Thank you, Chair.
I thank my colleague from the NDP.
I have a subamendment to propose. In light of some further discussions, the subamendment I will propose verbally is not identical, though it is quite similar to the one that was distributed in advance.
The subamendment I'm proposing is similar to reference number 12363478. It seeks to do a number of things. It seeks to require the government to maintain a list of the names of prisoners of conscience. It seeks to replace “Minister” with “government” in one place in terms of the reporting obligations. It also seeks to provide broad redaction powers to the minister in the context of this report in a way that would address situations when the government is of the view that the security of the prisoner or the advancement of human rights require that names not be disclosed.
The amendment is as follows. First, in line 13 on page 1, we'd replace the word “Minister” with “government”. Instead of looking just at the actions taken by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, it would look at the actions taken by the government in general. We think that's reasonable, because, to be fair, there will be ministers other than the Minister of Foreign Affairs who will do work on human rights in the context of other issues and other engagements.
The other changes are generally in the text of the reference number I read. They are, namely, that motion NDP-1, proposing to amend clause 2 by replacing line 12 on page 1 to line 2 on page 2, be amended by adding the following after subparagraph 10(4)(b)(i):
(i.1) the names of the prisoners of conscience,
adding the following after subsection (4):
(4.1) In preparing the list referred to in paragraph (4)(b), the Minister must make all reasonable efforts to consult with family members or representatives of the prisoners of conscience and may decide not to include certain information in the list if a person consulted by the Minister requests that the information not be included or the Minister is satisfied that not including it would be in the best interests of the advancement of human rights or the personal safety of the prisoner.
and by replacing “In subsection (4),” in subsection (5) with the following:
In this section,
This is the subamendment that was previously distributed, just with the exception that it adds the words “or the personal safety of the prisoner” to the new proposed 4.1, and it proposes replacing “Minister” with “government” in the place described.
That's the subamendment.