Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for bringing your opinions and ideas to us, and for your activism on behalf of Cuban people. I want to reiterate Canada's engagement recently, obviously, this week with the announcement of $8 million in humanitarian aid, which I am very happy with and proud of.
It would seem to me that we have three things in this conversation.
One is the desire of Canadians to help the Cuban people. We start with essentials like food. Then, we would go to those basic issues like health care, education and housing, which also require fuel. Those are the things that Canadians have spoken to me the most about. Our government's response has been first in that way.
The second issue that Canadians raise a lot is human rights issues, democratic institutions, reform of institutions, participation, equality and legality. They want Canada to foster those issues and invest in Cuba and elsewhere around the world as a second tier of engagement.
The system of government is not Canada's priority. We recognize that there are systems of government that are very different from the Canadian government, so we do not engage in either indirect or direct regime change. That is for the Cuban people who live in Cuba to decide. That is not for us to do; nor do I believe that it is for expats living around the world to do. We have a certain safety and security living in Canada. We do not believe in regime change. It's the indirect regime change that we are also concerned about.
We received a letter. I checked with the clerk to make sure that I could acknowledge a letter I've received. We as a committee have received this today from the Americas Policy Group and Common Frontiers. They are actually very clear that they want Canada to stand up against the Americans, not only on the tradition of an embargo, but also on the more recent coercive activity of starving the country of fuel. This is their goal.
The question I would have for the witnesses is, do they believe that the coercive activities of some countries, including the United States with its embargo, have actually helped change the regime, which has been their stated goal? I've heard at least one witness argue for more stringent activities such as that. Have they been effective, and will they be effective in any sense?