Health Committee on June 23rd, 2020

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Minister, I think it would be worthwhile if you tabled before the committee that record of the March 30 disclosure from 2016. I'm surprised to hear you say that because it's certainly not what I, and I think others, saw on the website. Maybe there was some information you gave to the Ethics Commissioner that was not publicly disclosed. Or maybe I'm wrong, but I think it's—

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, do you want me to read the record, because I have it in front of me?

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Can you table the document? I have some other questions I do want to ask you as well, Minister.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

For sure.

Mr. Chair, I don't know how to table virtually, but I will make sure it's sent to you in whatever fashion is needed.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

What does a mortgage have to do with COVID and the health committee?

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

That seems like a point of debate, but I can respond just on the point of order.

The member should know well the motion that allowed this committee to meet online gave the committee explicit permission to go beyond the normal parameters of the health committee. Part of this is because the Canada-China committee has not been allowed to meet despite the majority of the members wanting to meet. The foreign affairs committee has not been called and is not able to meet. The minister wasn't in the House all of last week when I wanted to ask him questions about this.

On Mr. Van Bynen's point of order, I think it is well within the parameters of the unanimous consent motion passed by the House. I would love to be able to ask the minister more of these questions in the House or at the Canada-China committee, but we've been deprived of those fora to ask those important questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. Genuis, on this point of order.

I think we are getting into debate. We are engaged in a study on the government's response to the coronavirus. While you are correct that the motion does allow us to deal with other things, that is not the study we're undertaking now.

Please carry on. Hopefully, we'll get more to COVID-19 kinds of questions.

Thank you.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's interesting that we have Liberals intervening, because it's the Liberal chair of the Canada-China committee who has—

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Chair, I have a point of order.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

—refused to allow that committee to meet, even though a majority of members want that committee to meet.

I'm happy to continue with my questioning, unless Mr. Davies wants to intervene here.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Chair, I would only note, in addition to what Mr. Genuis said, that the minister raised the issue of his mortgages in his opening statement.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you to you both. We are getting into debate.

I certainly take your point, Mr. Davies.

Please, let's carry on with the questions.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Thank you very much.

I have some other questions on important foreign policy matters that I want to ask the minister.

Minister, is it your view that Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, China, are being subject to genocide at the moment?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

As Canada's foreign affairs minister, I can say that we're very concerned about human rights conditions in China. I have raised that personally with my counterpart, and the Prime Minister has done so. We will continue to do so, because human rights are a core pillar of our foreign policy.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

It was a very specific question: Do you think there is evidence to suggest that genocide is taking place in Xinjiang?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Mr. Genuis, I would urge you toward relevance to our study, please, which is the government's response to the coronavirus.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Chair, I think Mr. Davies was quite on point in terms of the fact that I'm responding to things the minister said. I think our view of genocide is quite germane, for instance, to our engagement with the United Nations. The minister referred to our Security Council bid.

I would ask you to take a view that's consistent with the unanimous consent motion that the House passed in terms of what is and is not germane.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Mr. Genuis, we are engaged in a study on the government response to coronavirus. That is what the minister is here to address. I really hope you can bring your questions to the government response to the coronavirus. The plight of the Uighurs is very important, absolutely, but it's not the subject of our study.

Thank you.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Does the minister want to address the genocide question, or should I move on to other points?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

I will oblige the chair and follow whatever he is directing. I'm here to testify.

I'm at your disposal, Mr. Chair.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Minister, I would appreciate your making yourself available to the Canada-China committee as soon as possible. A majority of members of that committee want that committee to meet, but Mr. Regan, the Liberal chair, has consistently refused to abide by the majority wishes of the committee. I had to come and find you here at the health committee. Frankly, this was the only place I could find you to ask you some of these critical questions—

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Genuis, you were welcome to come with me to New York. It's a matter of public record that I spent a week trying to work with our officials at the UN to win a seat—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

It's also a matter of public record, Minister, that this is why we have a virtual Parliament. We have a mechanism by which you can answer questions anywhere. On Thursday the COVI committee sat. You chose not to be available to answer questions on Thursday, even though the vote had already taken place for our Security Council bid.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Mr. Genuis, could you please—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Let me ask you another question with respect to our relationship with China and with respect to the response to COVID.

To me, it seems very important that we have an international investigation into the international response to the COVID pandemic but also the response specifically of the Government of China, and that the investigation involve the capacity to have the investigation take place on the ground, in China, with unfettered access to Chinese experts. Are you supportive of having that kind of investigation take place?