Mr. Chairman, honourable members of the committee, it is a great pleasure for me to testify, along with my colleagues, before the subcommittee today.
Following on the presentations given by my colleagues from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the purpose of my presentation is to provide you with information on CIDA's development cooperation program with China related to human rights.
Since its inception in 1981, CIDA's programming in China has covered a broad range of areas. Through the 1980s and into the mid-1990s, the focus of the program was on food aid, personnel exchanges, and institutional linkages. As China's economy grew and its capacity in these areas increased, CIDA has changed its programming to take advantage of new opportunities in key areas where the Chinese are ready to work with Canadians and where CIDA support can serve foreign policy priorities such as human rights.
Accordingly, CIDA has steadily increased its programming related to human rights with a focus on strengthening the rule of law in China, as defined by international norms, standards, and agreements to which China is a party. Of course, the governments of Canada and China have very different views with respect to the state of human rights in China. CIDA works very closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs to ensure that Canada has a coherent and consistent approach to human rights, and we continue to look for ways to strengthen that approach.
CIDA complements the Department of Foreign Affairs' lead on policy issues by supporting the provision of Canadian expertise to address human rights concerns over the long term. For example, the annual Canada-China human rights dialogue has led to new CIDA projects and initiatives. A direct outcome of a request made by China's public security ministry at the 2005 dialogue has been a new sub-project under CIDA's policy options program, a sub-project dealing with inmates' rights.
Another initiative related to the dialogue is an activity within the long-term CIDA-funded program on implementation of international standards in criminal justice policy. This program, which is run by the Vancouver-based International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, is opening a new element of activities to work on issues of police accountability, beginning with a mission to Beijing next week, involving Canadian academics and law enforcement officials. These experts will make presentations on issues such as police accountability, police corruption, witness and victim protection, and gender issues in transnational crime.
In our current programming related to human rights, CIDA has engaged a range of Canadian expertise and partners such as the Canadian Bar Association, the Parliamentary Centre of Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada through the National Judicial Institute, Justice Canada, provincial authorities, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy.
Through the CIDA program, Canada has also developed relationships and strong credibility with a wide variety of Chinese institutions that have a direct bearing on human rights, including the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme People's Court , the All China Lawyers Association, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the National Legal Aid Center.
Since the mid-1990s, human rights have comprised an increasing share of CIDA's overall program, and this trend is strengthening. Through the CIDA program, Canadians have been able to achieve some notable results, and here are some examples. CIDA's Canada-China women's law project, which was implemented by the Association of Canadian Community Colleges trained hundreds of Chinese judges, court officials, and police officers on gender issues, developed extensive materials for future use, and helped to create special courts and legal aid clinics to inform and advise women of their rights. Canadian expertise was also used to develop and enact new legislation on domestic violence.
A project implemented by the Canadian Bar Association, sharing Canadian models for provision of legal aid, has contributed to the Chinese government devoting increased funding to legal aid services and improving citizens' access to justice. Legal aid lawyers are now taking on more cases in areas such as claims for wages owed to migrant labourers and claims for compensation by injured workers.
Thanks to the work done by the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice and Policy of Canada, a Canadian model for community correctional services was adopted in Shanghai and subsequently in 18 other provinces. This international centre has also worked with Chinese legal scholars, judges and top policy-makers to improve their understanding of international legal norms and standards, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the ratification of which con continues to be under study by the State Council.
CIDA also supported the University of Ottawa's Human Rights Research and Education Centre with the University of Beijing on a series of human- rights projects , with results including the establishment of China's first human-rights research centre.
Also, CIDA's Civil Society program, which began in 1998 and was expanded in 2001, is managed in close collaboration with colleagues from the Department of Foreign Affairs at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing. This program has contributed directly to the creation of 20 new Chinese civil society organizations. Another 107 other organizations received training in management and organizational capacity building. More than half of the beneficiaries of this project are women. This program has also funded the creation of one of China's leading NGO advocating for the rights of people living with HIV-AIDS and was an early financial supporter of the work of Mr. Wan Yanhai, who was recently detained by the authorities for his advocacy activities.
The Tibet Basic Human Needs Project, implemented by Agriteam Limited of Calgary, has piloted models of participatory planning models in several hundred rural communities in Tibet. These models have been adopted in rural villages throughout the autonomous region of Tibet.
As you will have noted, these initiatives use the expertise of Canadian organizations and implementing agencies. We continue to explore opportunities to advance the human rights agenda in China through practical cooperation.
I've provided a snapshot of the results that are being achieved in the area of human rights. In order to provide the committee members with more details, we are distributing a list of relevant projects.
In addition, I would encourage this committee to invite representatives from some of the Canadian organizations I've mentioned. These people can tell you much more about the practical work being done by Canadians in China in the area of human rights.
Thank you for your time. I welcome your questions. Mr. Nankivell is here, and he is also ready to provide the required details.
Thank you.