Evidence of meeting #25 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was regime.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Shelby Kramp-Neuman Conservative Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON
Okay, that's fair.
In the department's opinion, what is the best-case scenario for, let's suggest, 12 months from now for Venezuela, and what is the worst-case scenario? How can Canada leverage our foreign policy to help effect positive change in Venezuela?
In your opening remarks, you suggested that ideally you don't want to have Venezuela descend into chaos. What are the best and worst-case scenarios?
Director General, South America and Hemispheric Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
That's a great question.
The best-case scenario would be effective stabilization of the situation and an orderly democratic transition led by Venezuelans, as I've stated before. Hopefully that would mean the reconstruction of independent democratic institutions, amnesties for those who have been persecuted by the regime, and free and fair elections that would allow Venezuelans to choose their leadership.
On the other hand, a worst-case scenario might involve increasing violence and criminal activity and a loss of control of security forces in Venezuela, which could then spill over into neighbouring countries and even into North America.
Conservative
Shelby Kramp-Neuman Conservative Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON
Approximately how many times has your department met with U.S. officials specifically on the topic of the regime change in Venezuela?
Director General, South America and Hemispheric Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Unfortunately, I wouldn't have a count on that. Our interactions with U.S. officials happen at many levels and on quite a regular basis
I don't have a record of when this issue might have been raised that I could share.
Conservative
Shelby Kramp-Neuman Conservative Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON
Could you please speak to the current situation for Canadians themselves on the ground in Venezuela? How are we getting the needed support to them?
Director General, South America and Hemispheric Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
We take our consular responsibilities very seriously.
As I stated earlier, we haven't had an increase in demand for consular support in Venezuela. We have around 7,000 Canadians in Venezuela registered with our registry of Canadians abroad. There are likely more who haven't registered, but we haven't been asked to bring assistance to those Canadians.
Conservative
Shelby Kramp-Neuman Conservative Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON
Has there been any discussion with Canadian businesses operating in Venezuela?
Director General, South America and Hemispheric Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
We haven't had discussions with Canadian businesses, because there are very few we're aware of that are actually operating in Venezuela, because the conditions haven't been right. We anticipate that there may be more interest as the economy stabilizes.
Conservative
Shelby Kramp-Neuman Conservative Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON
This is my last question. Have there been any conversations about deploying CAF assets to the region in Venezuela?
Director General, South America and Hemispheric Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
To my knowledge, there has not been any discussion regarding CAF assets, but that would probably be a question for the Department of National Defence.
Conservative
Shelby Kramp-Neuman Conservative Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON
Thank you.
Those are all my questions.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ahmed Hussen
Thank you very much.
Next we go to MP Steven Guilbeault for five minutes.
Liberal
Steven Guilbeault Liberal Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to thank Ms. Drukier and the ambassador for joining us today.
Ms. Drukier, you said in your opening remarks that, so far, we have not seen much change on the ground regarding the situation of refugees. Is that indeed the case?
Director General, South America and Hemispheric Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Yes.
Liberal
Steven Guilbeault Liberal Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Earlier, you spoke briefly about humanitarian aid, particularly in response to my colleague Ms. Fortier.
Could you explain a little about what this involves? Who are the partners we are working with on the ground in Venezuela? As we do not have a significant Canadian presence there, I imagine we are dealing with local or international partners. Could you provide us with a little more detail on that?
Director General, South America and Hemispheric Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Yes, of course.
Allow me to check my notes, as we have several partners on the ground.
As regards humanitarian aid, we work mainly with the Red Cross and United Nations agencies. We support food aid, medical services, nutrition programs and other essential needs on the ground.
Liberal
Steven Guilbeault Liberal Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Let’s try to look a little further into the future. Earlier, you mentioned that we were looking into the possibility of doing more, particularly in humanitarian terms. Do we have any idea of the criteria that would lead Canada to decide to intervene more significantly, again in humanitarian terms?
Director General, South America and Hemispheric Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Canada usually responds to international requests for humanitarian aid. So, it will depend on how the situation on the ground develops and how these needs have initially been assessed by the United Nations.
Liberal
Steven Guilbeault Liberal Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
I have one final question for you: Could you confirm that we have granted amnesty to political prisoners from Venezuela in Canada?
Director General, South America and Hemispheric Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Unfortunately, I do not have that data. I know that many Venezuelans have applied for political asylum in Canada, including more than 1,000 over the past year. However, I do not have the figures on how many applications have been accepted or rejected. That would be a question best put to our colleagues at the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ahmed Hussen
Thank you very much.
We'll start the third round of questions, beginning with Madame Rood.
You have five minutes.
Conservative
Lianne Rood Conservative Middlesex—London, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, witnesses, for being here today.
Given that Canada formally recognized Edmundo González Urrutia as president-elect in January 2025 and never recognized the legitimacy of Nicolás Maduro, who does the Government of Canada currently recognize as the legitimate leader of Venezuela?
Director General, South America and Hemispheric Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
It's a very complicated situation. Canada recognized Edmundo González Urrutia as the president-elect of Venezuela back on January 9, 2025. The Government of Canada did not recognize him as the president. We actually do not have a recognition of a legitimate leader of Venezuela at this time.
Given the change in the situation on the ground and in the political situation as well, we've heard from representatives of the Venezuelan opposition, such as Mr. González and María Corina Machado, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, that they would be looking towards a transition where there would be new free and fair elections.
Conservative
Lianne Rood Conservative Middlesex—London, ON
Why has Canada not taken stronger steps to support Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado, the clear choice of the Venezuelan people, instead of tactically accepting a U.S.-backed arrangement with the deeply corrupt and long sanctioned Delcy Rodríguez?