Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on Dec. 12th, 2006

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Crowfoot, AB]

The next meeting won't be until February, unfortunately.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

That was the problem.

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Crowfoot, AB]

Even if we did deal with it today and refer it to the foreign affairs committee, it wouldn't be dealt with until February.

[The Chair, Conservative, Jason Kenney]

I appreciate your flexibility, Mr. Cotler. As Chair, I try to be flexible by accepting this as being received, which was not an obvious call. I think we also have to respect the consensus of committee that it's a substantive motion and deserves due consideration. I appreciate your flexibility in that regard, and certainly as an individual member I'd like to discuss with you, Mr. Cotler, how else we as parliamentarians could express ourselves forcefully on these questions in an urgent fashion. I think, frankly, it is of grave concern to the future of peace and stability in the world.

With that, Mr. Cotler, again I thank you.

Mr. Marston.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

This is on a separate matter.

[The Chair, Conservative, Jason Kenney]

Go ahead.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Tomorrow, for your information, at one o'clock, I'm hosting a round table on the optional protocol to the convention against torture. That'll be in room 112-N, Centre Block, as I say, at one o'clock tomorrow, if anybody has the opportunity to get there.

[Caroline St-Hilaire, Bloc, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman, but you're moving a little too fast for me.

What are we going to do with Mr. Cotler's motion? Are we going to debate it after the holidays? If I understand correctly, we won't be getting around to it today. Will Mr. Cotler's motion appear on the agenda as a simple motion, or will we be conducting a broader study? I want everything to be clear.

[The Chair, Conservative, Jason Kenney]

The committee clerk reminds me that in fact, if it's the will of the committee, we don't have to wait until February; we can sit at other times. I'm not sure how to trigger that, but that's a consideration. We have discussed, in general terms, future business. We don't have time to get into that in detail. I think what we'll do here is put this motion forward to the next sitting of this committee for consideration at that time. We would normally have a debate and a vote at that time.

Mr. Menzies.

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Macleod, AB]

Can we schedule a meeting with some witnesses to provide a bit of background to this?

[The Chair, Conservative, Jason Kenney]

I think that would be helpful. If it's the will of the committee, I'd be quite prepared to accommodate that.

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Crowfoot, AB]

My question is for Mr. Cotler. I was watching on the television news on the weekend a convention or conference going on in Tehran, and I noticed that there were some Orthodox Jews attending it. Are you at all aware of the people who had been invited? I saw the Israelis going to that conference. Is it just a sham, in your opinion, or do we know people who are there?

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

I should say that the Orthodox Jews who are there are members of an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic sect that do not support the existence of a state of Israel. They are also the ones who demonstrated in Durban at the infamous World Conference Against Racism. They are a standing presence at conferences that speak to either the Holocaust denial or the delegitimization of Israel. I wouldn't draw any inferences from that other than that they are a prop at these conferences. I think the disturbing thing is the presence at this conference of those who are Holocaust deniers themselves, from different parts of the world, as well as racists, who've gone there to join in it in that regard.

[The Chair, Conservative, Jason Kenney]

We do have to run. I know we have to adjourn the meeting, because Mr. Cotler has a press conference right now.

Any members who would like to propose witnesses for our consideration of this matter are invited to furnish those names to the clerk.

Thank you. We're adjourned.