Foreign Affairs Committee on March 28th, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Colleagues, welcome to meeting number 12 of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.

Pursuant to the motion adopted on January 31, the committee is meeting on its briefing on the current situation in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

As always, interpretation is available through the globe icon at the bottom of your screens.

For members participating in person, please do keep in mind the Board of Internal Economy guidelines for mask use and health protocols.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind participants at the meeting that taking screenshots or photos of your screen is not permitted.

Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. When you are not speaking, your mic should be on mute.

A reminder that all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the Chair.

Colleagues, just before we get started, I want to raise a couple of housekeeping issues.

One, could I take a few minutes of your time at the end of the meeting to discuss a matter with respect to Thursday's work plan?

Two, I'd like to flag with you, for your calendars—and we'll provide more information on this—a number of opportunities for engagement on Thursday, April 7 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. There will be an opportunity for an informal meeting with Monsieur Filippo Grandi, High Commissioner of the UNHCR, who will be in Ottawa. Again, more information will be forthcoming.

On June 7 the Danish Foreign Policy Committee will be in Ottawa and would like to meet us, as their counterpart. Again, we will provide confirmation as soon as possible.

During the week of May 16 to 20, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will be requesting a meeting with the committee, through Françoise Vani.

Finally, there is a possibility this Friday to meet with a delegation of Ukrainian women parliamentarians. A possible slot is from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. This would be an informal meeting, and again, we will keep you updated on the details.

Colleagues, I would now like to welcome our witnesses, who are senior officials, to the committee.

We have with us, from the Department of Employment and Social Development, Rakesh Patry, director general, international and intergovernmental labour affairs; and Jodi Brown, director, international and intergovernmental labour affairs.

From the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, we have Alexandre Lévêque, assistant deputy minister, strategic policy; Carolyn Knobel, director general and deputy legal adviser; Catherine Godin, director general, human rights, freedoms and inclusion; David Hutchison, acting director general, trade portfolio strategy and coordination; and Jennie Chen, executive director, greater China political and coordination.

Executive Director Chen, I believe you will be making the opening remarks on behalf of colleagues. I would like to give you the floor, for five minutes. Please go ahead.

[Jennie Chen, Executive Director, Greater China Political and Coordination, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and good morning, everyone.

Thank you for the opportunity to address the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. I would like to begin by acknowledging that I am participating in this briefing from the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.

The promotion and protection of human rights is an integral part of Canadian foreign policy and is a priority in the Government of Canada's engagement with China. When the Prime Minister announced on December 8, 2021, that Canada would not be sending any diplomatic representation to the Beijing winter Olympics, he made it clear that Canada remained extremely concerned by the repeated human rights violations by the Chinese government.

In Xinjiang, there's substantial credible evidence that documents mass arbitrary detentions of Uighur and other Muslim ethnic minorities, directed by the central and regional Chinese governments under the false pretext of countering terrorism and violent extremism. From evidence provided by academics, NGOs, human rights defenders, journalists and the testimony of victims, Uighurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities face torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, obligatory patriotic and cultural education, forced labour and arbitrary forced separation of children from their parents by authorities. Throughout the region, Uighurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities also face repressive physical and digital surveillance. There are credible reports of systematic rape and gender-based sexual violence, as well as reports of forced medical procedures without consent, including sterilization, abortions, contraceptive device insertion and organ removal.

The Chinese government has taken the position that the measures in Xinjiang are counterterrorism-related, but the evidence simply does not support that position. Furthermore, these actions are inconsistent with both China's international human rights obligations and the UN global counterterrorism strategy.

The situation has become much more troubling since 2017, which is why nearly 50 UN independent experts raised their concerns in 2020. It is also why we have taken specific measures to address forced labour in Xinjiang, including a recent commitment for the government to introduce legislation to eradicate forced labour from Canadian supply chains and ensure that Canadian businesses operating abroad do not contribute to human rights abuses.

On March 22, 2021, Canada announced sanctions against four Chinese officials and one entity under the Special Economic Measures Act, based on their direct participation in gross and systematic human rights violations in Xinjiang. These measures were taken in coordination and in solidarity with the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. We remain steadfast in our pledge to increase supply chain transparency, promote responsible business conduct and ensure that Canadian companies are upholding Canadian values.

Global Affairs Canada has engaged our trade commissioner service clients in China on the risks of supply chain exposure in Xinjiang. This includes a business advisory warning on the risks of forced labour exposure to supply chains and the introduction of a Xinjiang integrity declaration that Canadian companies active in or with ties to Xinjiang are expected to sign to continue receiving trade commissioner services from Canada.

In multilateral fora and bilateral discussions, Canada has consistently called on the Chinese government to end the repression in Xinjiang. Canada has been a strong voice in calling for the establishment of an independent and impartial investigation into the gross human rights violations taking place in Xinjiang. We will continue to call attention to these human rights violations alongside the global community.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you so much for your opening remarks, Executive Director Chen.

Colleagues, I forgot to mention at the outset that I will do my best to signal, as is customary, when you have 30 seconds remaining in your speaking time with the very analog method of holding up this yellow card with the “30 sec.” message on it. I hope that's visible both virtually and in the room. It has worked well for us in the past.

We will go straightaway into our first round of questions, with six-minute allocations. Leading us off today is Mr. Chong.

Please go ahead.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank officials from both departments for appearing today. I have a series of quick questions to clarify several things.

Companies have to sign a declaration when engaging the trade commissioner service. What if companies don't engage the trade commissioner service? I guess they don't have to sign. Is that correct?

[Jennie Chen]

I'd ask my colleague, David Hutchison, to address this question.

[David Hutchison, Acting Director General, Trade Portfolio Strategy and Coordination, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

The trade commissioner service has done its best to inform all Canadian businesses, including through the business advisory from January 12, 2021. We are supporting exporters in the markets, and any trade commissioner client that is active in Xinjiang or has ties to Xinjiang must sign the declaration in order to continue to receive those services.

It is possible that there are other Canadian companies that are not currently the trade commissioner's clients.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

In other words, if a Canadian company doesn't engage the trade commissioner service, it's not under an obligation to sign the Xinjiang integrity declaration. Is that correct?

[David Hutchison]

I believe that is correct.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

It seems to me that's a big hole in the measures that were announced last year by the government. I just want to point that out.

Are you aware of the report entitled “In Broad Daylight: Uyghur Forced Labour and Global Solar Supply Chains”, which was published by two academics at Sheffield Hallam University and, more particularly, at the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice.

Are you aware of this research that's been done?

[Jennie Chen]

I could field this question.

I have not read that particular report, but officials within Global Affairs Canada are aware of the supply chain risks related to solar panels and policy work is ongoing in this regard.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Thank you. I appreciate that answer.

In the report, two Canadian companies are identified as importing products into Canada that have been produced using forced or coerced labour. One is Canadian Solar of Guelph, Ontario, which is near my riding, and the second is Niagara Renewable Energy Ltd. I'm assuming it's part of the Greater Niagara Renewable Energy Co-operative Inc., although I'm not 100% certain about that.

About 45% of the polysilicon produced in the world is produced in Xinjiang, so it seems to me that it's almost inevitable that panels and components being imported from China would contain elements of forced labour. What is the government doing to prevent the importation of these kinds of products, as we have legal obligations under the CUSMA to do exactly that?

[Jennie Chen]

Mr. Chair, I'll invite my colleague, Mr. Patry, from ESDC to respond to this question.

[Rakesh Patry, Director General, International and Intergovernmental Labour Affairs, Department of Employment and Social Development]

As Mr. Chong noted, the government has introduced a ban on the importation of goods produced by forced labour under CUSMA obligations. We continue to work with our colleagues at the Canada Border Services Agency, which is the entity responsible for interdicting goods that may come in.

The Canada Border Services Agency works with a number of importers in ensuring that they are aware of the limitations on introducing goods produced with forced labour. We conduct research on the likelihood of goods being produced with forced labour, and there is a strong likelihood that goods produced, emanating out of Xinjiang, using polysilicon are produced using forced labour.

That said, supply chains, as everyone knows, are remarkably complex and global in nature. It can be very difficult for companies to trace in detail the origins of all particular materials within supply chains. The prohibition on importation of goods produced with forced labour is done on a shipment or case by case basis by Canada.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Thank you for that answer.

It's done on a shipment or case by case basis, so let me ask this question.

The measures were introduced effective July 1, 2020, and the government announced the measures, particular to Xinjiang, in January 2021. Since January 2021, how many shipments of solar panel-related products have been blocked from being imported into Canada by the CBSA?

[Rakesh Patry]

To my knowledge, I'm not aware of any shipments that have been stopped by the Canada Border Services Agency with polysilicon.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Thank you. Can you confirm that only one shipment of tomatoes has been blocked in the last year—I believe it was last fall—by the CBSA?

[Rakesh Patry]

To my knowledge, I believe that's correct. I'm not aware of any other shipments, and I should clarify, the shipment that I'm aware of was a clothing shipment, not a tomato-based shipment.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Thank you for that clarification.

There's been one shipment of clothing—cotton—that has been blocked from coming into Canada, no shipments of tomatoes that you are aware of and no shipments related to solar panels that you are aware of. Is that correct?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Give a brief answer, please, in the interest of time.

[Rakesh Patry]

Not to my knowledge, Mr. Chair.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Thank you for that clarification. I appreciate that.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you, Mr. Chong, and thank you to the officials.

We will now go to Madam Bendayan for six minutes.

Please go ahead.

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the witnesses.

I'm pleased that we are discussing this today. I would like to thank all my colleagues on the committee for unanimously agreeing to my proposal that we look at the situation of the Uighurs in the Xinjiang autonomous region and, in particular, the forced labour ongoing there.

Picking up on Mr. Chong's last question, would it be possible to have greater transparency around the nature of the goods being seized? Is this something that is possible on your end?

[Rakesh Patry]

My apologies, I'm not quite certain I understand the question.

Are you seeking greater information on goods that have been seized to date?

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

I understand now with respect to the one shipment having been seized, but publicly it was my understanding that the media was having difficulty finding out exactly what had been seized in that November seizure that occurred in Quebec. There were reports of different things. At one point there was a report that it was tomatoes and now you're clarifying that it was cotton.

Is the CBSA able to provide some transparency surrounding the seizures that will continue into the future?