Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, for the questions.
As indicated, publishing a list.... Whenever Canada engages in support of human rights defenders or people imprisoned abroad in violation of international human rights standards, we do it in partnership with other countries or sometimes with civil society partners. The strategy to approach the engagement on each individual case is decided collectively, based on local situations and the particularities of each individual case.
Typically, we come up with a strategy based on opportunities for escalation. In some cases, indeed, if someone is imprisoned against their will abroad, it would be important to go public with that information. However, typically, we come up with a strategy based on an escalatory approach, potentially with naming an individual case as the final step.
Being forced to publish names in cases we were engaged on could threaten the actual engagement on the specific case. It could also jeopardize partnerships with other countries that are critical to our engaging on cases. If other countries partnering with Canada were aware that we would, by force or legislatively, be obligated to publish the names of individuals on whose behalf we were engaged, it could potentially make them more reluctant to engage with Canada collectively on supporting these cases.
Also, as indicated, we have not been in conversations with the Privacy Commissioner, but we would certainly have to be guided by the Privacy Act, which could place limits on the amount of information allowed to be divulged.
Basically, in terms of an overall strategy, which is guided by partnerships with other countries on the ground, being forced to proactively publish information on individual names could jeopardize those partnerships and our ability to engage effectively on cases.
I would note that quiet diplomacy should not be underestimated as a critical factor in engaging on individual cases. Some countries that typically would not be traditional partners of Canada—I would refer to them as “non-traditional partners”—take approaches that favour quiet diplomacy, as opposed to louder megaphone diplomacy. These sorts of broad partnerships, in many instances, are critical to effective engagement on individual cases. I would cede that those kinds of partnerships could be put particularly at risk by an obligation to publish not just names but also details of activities we were engaged on in individual cases.