Thank you, Chair.
I'm going to pick my words carefully here, and you'll understand in a second. I want to tell Mr. Houlden that I agree with his evaluation that there are some areas of human rights that are improving and some that are going downhill.
I met last week with a person from Hong Kong who works underground in China with the civil society groups. This is why I'm going to choose my words carefully. This person was telling me that they believe in the last 15 years there has been a fairly significant change in human rights and that there have been improvements. What this person spoke about, though, was that it seems the military or the police in certain districts are more offensive than in others in the area of human rights. It's almost like the government itself doesn't have that control; it's not systemic through the government.
I'm just thinking for a second, because again I'm watching my words. This person was saying that they're watched, they're interviewed, but they're not apprehended to the degree they used to be. It still occurs, but not like it was before.
I have one question for CIDA. Has there been an external evaluation of your human rights programming in China?
I'll just go a little further and come back. I've made the suggestion here, and others have spoken to it as well, that the dialogue should be accountable to this committee and reporting to this committee. I'd like to see what folks think of that.
The final one is for Foreign Affairs. What specifically has been done, that you can comment on, to ensure the safety and to secure the release of Huseyincan Celil?