Thank you for being here today.
I must say that your testimony today is much different from what we have heard from others who have been here, many former Cuban residents who have spoken about human rights violations and I would even say atrocities.
Mr. Silva brought up the 75 dissidents who were arrested. Many of them were arrested for having opinions that varied from those of the government of Cuba. They were arrested for stating those opinions verbally—a group of university students talking about freedoms that they should have and enjoy—and some of them were imprisoned for up to eight years, I think it was, in the case of one of the individuals who sat here at this table. They spoke with passion and came close to breaking down almost when they talked about the atrocities happening in Cuba. That's why we're studying Cuba. We're looking at Cuba because it's been recognized as a country where human rights violations are very prevalent, and people are willing to speak of these. But your testimony today has given no indication of any violations at all.
Some of them were arrested for communicating with groups who are concerned about human rights. Even that was suppressed, and they were put in prison. They were imprisoned for possessing a radio, a battery charger. Perhaps that's why they just replaced the battery, because some of them were in possession of a battery charger, video equipment or publications, so they were imprisoned.
Canada is one of the largest donors of aid to Cuba. It's not much, a little over $10 million a year, but that $10 million goes towards helping with good governance by exposing them to our Canadian values and helping them to build democratic institutions and to succeed in the world economy.
If that is the mandate of how we give our aid, should we suspend that aid?