Foreign Affairs Committee on Feb. 28th, 2024

[Robert Sinclair]

I believe they are in good faith. I also believe that they're incredibly difficult after decades of hostility. There are no doubt very tough negotiations going on. We also just had the election in Azerbaijan on February 7, and President Aliyev's very unhelpful comments in early January are exactly the kind of rhetoric we want to avoid.

However, I believe the talks are ongoing. We had President Erdogan just recently, in the last couple of days, also calling on both sides to take advantage of this opportunity. That's significant as well.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

That leads into my next question on the role of Turkey in this. We read that there are ongoing discussions about normalizing the relationship between Armenia and Turkey. Is that helpful? What is your take on that?

[Robert Sinclair]

I think that's absolutely helpful.

Turkey has very close relations with Azerbaijan, so any indication of a warming of relations with Armenia and Turkey is a good thing. That's something to watch.

Turkey has linked normalization with Armenia to peace discussions between Armenia and Azerbaijan. They've said that they'll hold off on normalization until Armenia and Azerbaijan come to an agreement, which, I would say from Turkey's perspective, is leaving as many cards in Azerbaijan's hands as possible. The fact that it's being discussed is a very good sign.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

With respect to Canada's role, is it helpful or neutral that Canada has established an embassy with a full-time ambassador in Yerevan fairly recently? Is that proving to be worthwhile or helpful? Can you comment on that as well as on Stéphane Dion's report?

[Robert Sinclair]

I would say that it's absolutely helpful. It's a sign of not just our political moral support but tangible physical support for Armenia and the region.

On Monsieur Dion's report, we have put things in place to implement a number of the recommendations from that report. We still have a ways to go, I would say, but it's the signal of political moral support and investment that Armenia really appreciates.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you, Mr. Sinclair.

We now go to Mr. Bergeron.

You have two and a half minutes, sir.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Sinclair, I want to make sure that you will actually end up answering our questions. We're still waiting for the answers from your colleagues who testified to inform us on the situation in Gaza, and I hope we'll be receiving your answers more quickly.

When she appeared before the committee, the minister said that the Government of Canada did not believe there should be restrictions on military exports between NATO allies. Personally, I found this statement rather odd, considering what happened in 2020. The minister added that she had had very firm and direct conversations with her Turkish counterpart about Armenia, in particular.

Can you tell us what guarantees the minister has obtained from Turkey that the technology and equipment we would be sending to Turkey could not be used once again in a possible conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan?

[Robert Sinclair]

Thank you for the question.

I will refer to the agreement we have with Turkey.

The key elements of that say Turkey must inform Canada of any intent to re-export any Canadian military-use component, whether stand-alone or fixed to or integrated into another platform or system, to any non-NATO country, Ukraine excepted. That's before the export permit is granted.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Can we trust Turkey's word this time?

[Robert Sinclair]

Yes.

Frankly, we wouldn't have entered into an agreement if we weren't confident that the agreement would be followed.

We had a previous question on this. Canada and Turkey continue regular bilateral consultations. We will continue to review this agreement.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you. That was perfect timing, Mr. Bergeron.

Madam McPherson, you have two and a half minutes.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Again, thank you to the officials for being with us today and sharing this information with us.

Just to end off the session, I'm going to ask a bit about some of our humanitarian aid going to the region. Of course, this committee is the foreign affairs committee, but it's also the international development committee. It's something that I think we sometimes miss a bit.

We know that the United Nations has launched an appeal for $97 million to support the ethnic Armenian refugees who have fled Nagorno-Karabakh. Do you know if that appeal has been completely funded? What will Canada's role in that be?

[Robert Sinclair]

The appeal has not been completely funded. Forgive me. I was looking at the figures last night, and I believe there's about $47 million left, but I'll need to get back to you to confirm that.

That's a guess at this point, to be frank, but it has not been filled.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Can you tell me what Canada's contribution to that is? What contributions have we made?

[Robert Sinclair]

So far it's $3.9 million, as I outlined before, with $2.5 million of that to ICRC, $1 million to UNHCR, $350,000 to World Vision Canada and $40,000 to Red Cross and Red Crescent.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

You said it was $3.9 million, so it's a relatively small amount of money so far, but you did use the phrase “so far”. Are there plans for the Canadian government to increase the amount of humanitarian assistance and development funding that will be going to the region?

[Robert Sinclair]

I'm not aware of any plans at this point.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you, MP McPherson.

Allow me to take this opportunity to thank our two witnesses. Every single one of us is very grateful to have heard your expertise and your perspective, and we look forward to seeing you in the future.

Friends, before we leave, I have a couple of quick things to run by you.

First of all—

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Do we have committee business?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

We do. We agreed to committee business for 15 minutes.

If I tell people what the committee business is, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone agrees to it within less than a minute.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Okay, go for it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

The first is with respect to our approach to Africa. The analysts have very graciously agreed to take all of the witnesses. All of the witnesses were submitted. Thank you to members.

The analysts have kindly offered to take the themes they had previously provided to us and slot in the witnesses we have provided so we have a better sense of how it's shaping up. They'll send that back to us by March 18 so we can review it. Is that okay with everyone?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.