Evidence of meeting #61 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was afghanistan.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Liberal
Marie-France Lalonde Liberal Orléans, ON
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I want to say thank you to the minister for joining us today. Certainly, I'll echo what my colleague has said, but maybe in a different tone. Thank you for your service. I know that you did three rounds in Afghanistan. We thank you for that, sir. It's a real honour to have you with us.
My first question will be twofold. I would like you, on record, to say what your role was during the fall of Kabul, and to maybe share with this committee the biggest administrative and institutional difficulties you have faced in our government.
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
Thank you.
Our role at National Defence and mine as Minister of National Defence was to coordinate with our closest allies to conduct the.... First of all, even before the fall of Kabul, there was the evacuation of our key personnel from Kabul. Then what we did was re-establish security. Our first focus was with the U.S. and the British at that time at the Kabul airport to get the safety parameters in place. We were trying to support the other departments in getting the Afghans, who were on the appropriate approved list, evacuated out of Kabul.
Liberal
Marie-France Lalonde Liberal Orléans, ON
Thank you very much.
Minister, I don't think it's a surprise, but I'll say it here. It's always an honour for me to be the representative of Orleans, where I have the privilege of having long-standing military...and veterans, but also a very rich Afghan community, who reside there. When I see women and young girls—and I think this is where my emotion comes from—I see them free, able to go to school and able to access the very best of what Canada can offer.
There was a key recommendation in the report that was tabled. Could you share with us some of the responses to the recommendations in the Afghan report, particularly on the increase in aid and the support to women and children and young girls, who are definitely right now the prime targets of the Taliban regime?
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
On the support, even with the challenges within the Criminal Code, we were still able to work with close UN partners to deliver emergency support. In fact, in the early days, things were working reasonably well to get support to other areas, because certain portions of Afghanistan were actually safe to travel to then, as reported by some of the UN agencies. It was only afterwards, after some of the edicts, that it was very difficult, with the prevention of girls going to school. We were still focused on getting humanitarian support. Now the recent edicts are making it extremely difficult.
If you don't mind, just on your previous point about veterans, I want to put on the record the absolutely amazing and heroic work of all Canadian Armed Forces members. I know personally some of the work that was done, and their story will never be told. I want to acknowledge, for the record, that some of us appreciate what they did during that time.
Liberal
Marie-France Lalonde Liberal Orléans, ON
I thank you very much for that. I will echo that when I go home. I sometimes talk to our Legion and some of our veterans.
I'm very proud of a number, Minister—30,000. There are a little over 30,000 Afghans who can now call Canada home. That's a reflection of the work done by our government, by people from everywhere, to bring these people here. I actually had the great pleasure of welcoming some of the Afghan newcomers here.
There's a particular thought...and I think I was part of it, which is Bill C-41. I would certainly like you to share a bit with our committee what this new bill being introduced means for you in your current role. How quickly should we pass it?
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
Again, I want to take the opportunity to thank all of you for your work on this.
This legislation, Bill C-41, is very important. What it will allow is for agencies that want to work in Afghanistan to get through the approval process so they can conduct their work. It will allow us to reach more people.
Even with the challenges, we are focused on trying to deliver support as much as we can. We wanted to be able to not just focus on humanitarian work but also focus on education. That is still open, but at least with the legislative changes that we will eventually get done, we will have a greater capacity to do more.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Thank you.
We will now proceed to Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe for two and a half minutes.
Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe, go ahead.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Simply for your information, Minister, I just came from the Standing Committee on Justice, which is studying Bill C‑41. It took you 15 months to draft an 82‑page bill, when everyone already agreed on the problem from the start. Now we hear that the Liberals might filibuster. When we say we need to move quickly, there may be a problem on your side of the House, but we'll get to that.
Your mission to Qatar disturbs me, Minister.
With respect to Canada's arms sale to Qatar, is it because you don't agree with that sale that you didn't put out that key message, which was in your briefing notes?
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
The message that I was focused on.... We talked about the challenges that were taking place in Afghanistan. We talked about how we could work together on education around the world.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
I'm sorry, Madam Chair.
I don't mean to be rude, Minister, but you know that Bloc Québécois members have less time than members of other parties.
My question will be much simpler and you can answer it with a yes or no.
As Minister of International Development, do you agree that Canada should sell arms to a dictatorship such as Qatar, that abuses human rights?
That's a pretty simple question.
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
I want to be clear on the question, in case there's an issue with interpretation. Are you asking me if I should be sending these key messages as Minister of International Development?
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
No, I'm asking if you agree with Canada selling arms to Qatar, which is currently, let's be clear, a dictatorship that tramples on human rights, including those of the LGBTQ+ community, women and foreign workers.
My question is simple, do you agree that Canada should sell arms to Qatar, yes or no?
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
What I can say is that any selling of weapons we do around the world goes through a very strict regime. That is done through other ministers who have the appropriate authority, and—
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
—human rights is a very strong component that's looked at.
Bloc
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
I'm not here to make a determination. We have a good system in place—
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
As Minister of International Development, you don't have—
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
—that provides good credibility for how this work is done.
Bloc
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
As Minister of International Development, I'm focused on international development.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Let's have one person at a time.
Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe, perhaps you can allow the minister to answer the question, please. Thank you.
You have 10 seconds left.
