Thank you for this important question.
As Minister Joly stated in front of this committee last week, we take calls for a declaration of genocide very seriously. This is a decision for the government to make. As officials, we will provide that advice to ministers when that time comes.
That being said, given the body of research and information available to date, Canada has already taken a number of concrete actions, some of which you are aware. In June 2021, we led a joint statement in the Human Rights Council, expressing serious concerns about human rights violations in China. In March of 2021, we imposed sanctions on four individuals and one entity. This was the first time we imposed sanctions on China since 1989.
Of course, in January, as we've just discussed, we imposed a number of new measures strengthening our ability to conduct responsible business and working to prevent forced labour in Canadian supply chains.