Thank you.
One concern I have with regard to that particular example is that we have heard from human rights defenders around Latin America and the region that Canada has in fact not been there when they needed them to defend human rights defenders, as per the legislation that we have. I do have some concerns about that.
I've spent some time in Nicaragua and other countries. One of my concerns is that we have trade relationships that we often prioritize over human rights, from my perspective.
We know that there are significant trade relationships with several Latin American countries. We have seen instances of the promotion of Canadian extractive industries or other trade priorities conflicting with human rights or environmental protections. For example, MiningWatch and Amazon Watch have documented concerns raised by indigenous communities regarding Canadian companies' conduct in the Amazon. I myself was in a small community in Nicaragua where “Go Home Canada” was spray-painted on the fence because a Canadian mining company had poisoned the aquifer and made the community very, very ill.
How is this government ensuring that trade priorities, particularly in the extractive sector, do not override the protection of human rights? What concrete actions are being taken to make sure that you are addressing these ongoing concerns, particularly knowing that the CORE ombudsperson was never given the powers to compel testimony or witnesses, as was promised by the government initially?