Evidence of meeting #18 for Subcommittee on International Human Rights in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was prisoners.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:45 p.m.
Committee Researcher
Yes, it's been translated and everything. It's just a quick list that we drew up yesterday.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Jason Kenney
Okay, so we have at least three, possibly five, regular meetings ahead of us. We've now had three hearings, one in the fall and two in the spring, on Cuba. In addition, I always make reference to the testimony that can be at least a reference point for us from the previous Parliament. And Marcus has suggested that we should probably move to consideration of a draft report on the Cuba testimony as an option.
He already had prepared—I'm looking at one iteration dated 16 November 2006 of Canada's policy concerning human rights in Cuba—possible elements of a report, which I think was a reasonable basis, but since then we've heard additional testimony, of course.
Go ahead.
12:50 p.m.
Committee Researcher
There was one witness who was invited, who wasn't available because he was actually in Cuba, and that's Professor John Kirk. Madame St-Hilaire had suggested him. I think he is away until the end of this week, so he might be another option. He's one of the better-known Cuba experts in Canada, and there's also a Professor Dosman. Those are the only two. And when I refer in the document here to academics or experts, those would be options on that end of the....
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Jason Kenney
I would be open to doing one more round on this. If we did, I would be keen to consider inviting Ed Broadbent, who's a former member of this committee and who's a former president of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, who has spent, in that capacity, a lot of time, apparently, in Cuba and I think has some well-informed opinions about it. He was really the leading member of this committee in a previous Parliament on the issue, and I thought he brought a lot to it.
I think we could have a decent final panel on this, if that were the committee's desire, next week.
Where are we at with the CSR, Marcus? Are we waiting for the government response?
12:50 p.m.
Committee Researcher
We're waiting for the government response, essentially. The advisory council, which is the stakeholders group, has prepared a very detailed, lengthy report that's available on the website. The Department of Foreign Affairs told me in March that once that was out, the government would be preparing a response to Parliament. In what form, I don't know yet.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Jason Kenney
We've had this on the agenda as waiting for a response. We can continue in that fashion.
12:50 p.m.
NDP
Wayne Marston NDP Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
If that report could be distributed to us, it would be worthy of some consideration.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Jason Kenney
You can see other items on the agenda that have been put forward.
Marcus, let me say that another thing that's not on here is Iran, which you've done in fits and starts. We had three witnesses in one hearing on Iran on the human rights aspect.
Then we had Mr. Cotler's motion on incitement to genocide, which was only tangentially an aspect of that hearing. It would be an option for us to further pursue the human rights situation in Iran.
I just got notice today of a bizarre conference happening at a Canadian university where they've invited something called the Ayatollah Khomeini Foundation to speak.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Irwin Cotler Liberal Mount Royal, QC
It's quite serious. The person who is invited to speak at this dialogue—I received this from my Iranian colleagues, Professor Payam Akhavan—is the person, among others in the Iranian leadership, who has been advocating the incitement to genocide. To have somebody like that come here for dialogue on these matters is quite serious.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Jason Kenney
So they're joining the “Hall of Shame” with St. Francis Xavier University, when it comes to this issue. That's another item.
Now, I don't know how you want to organize these things. I'm keen on the North Korean refugees issue, but we have addressed that already in one report.
Given that we haven't gotten to the CSR, for understandable reasons, perhaps we could schedule a hearing before the end of the spring session on the optional protocol, which you raised as an issue.
We've tried to do everything here in a consensual fashion—
12:50 p.m.
A voice
What's the optional protocol?
12:50 p.m.
NDP
Wayne Marston NDP Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
It's the UN protocol. We shepherded it through the United Nations and then never signed it.
As far as I'm concerned, that's disgraceful. I'd be thrilled to see it move forward.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Irwin Cotler Liberal Mount Royal, QC
I agree with Wayne. I think it's so disgraceful that I don't even think we should have a hearing on it.
One of my last acts as the Minister of Justice was to recommend that we do this. I regard holding hearings on it as being a kind of dilatory process for something that, in my view, clearly should be done.
I don't see why we can't move ahead by way of motion in that regard, rather than have hearings on what I think is a clear and compelling case. We supported this protocol initially. We ought to be able to ratify what we helped support and bring to pass.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Jason Kenney
No one has brought forward that kind of a motion.
Wayne, notwithstanding what Mr. Cotler has said, would you still like to have witnesses or hear DFAIT's position on this?
12:55 p.m.
NDP
Wayne Marston NDP Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
I'd be thrilled to go ahead with a motion on it. Originally I took the witnesses tactic because I thought there was resistance to a motion.
12:55 p.m.
Conservative
12:55 p.m.
Conservative
Kevin Sorenson Conservative Crowfoot, AB
I'm not certain that I would necessarily need to hear a lot of witnesses on it, but I would still like the 24 or 48 hours before we have the motion.
I don't want a motion for unanimous support of this, because I want to look and see what the possible reasons could be.
12:55 p.m.
Conservative
12:55 p.m.
A voice
There's no harm.
12:55 p.m.
Conservative
Wajid Khan Conservative Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
It would be more informative. There's nothing wrong with it; we listen to them for every other thing.