Madame Ebadi, thank you for coming before us. We all admire your courage. We know that to be an advocate for human and civil rights in a country like Canada is a privilege that involves no risks, but for you, we know that your witness on behalf of the Iranian people is an act of courage every day. We commend you for that.
I'd like to pursue the question asked by my colleague Mr. Marston, which is to seek your advice on how Canada can be of maximum help to advance the aspirations of the Iranian people for respect for human and civil rights and for democracy.
As you've indicated, we have been the principal sponsors of the Iranian human rights resolution at the United Nations. We have taken other significant steps to express our concern about specific and general human rights abuses, including our government's effort to seek the detention of Prosecutor General Mortazavi in Europe in September 2006. But it's my observation that when democratic western countries such as Canada make such gestures, the Iranian regime responds by downgrading our relations or persecuting our dual citizens, as was the case with your client, the late Zahra Kazemi, as was the case with Ramin Jahanbegloo.
Can you give us any more advice on how we can exercise our influence on the international stage without simply downgrading our diplomatic relations to nothing and without endangering Canadian-Iranian citizens who live in Iran?