Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to the witnesses.
I agree with Mr. Silva's observations earlier. There are a number of things I agree with, but certainly I have a problem with some of the offenders who are on that list scrutinizing. But then as well I understand if you want to be a leader it means you have to open yourself up to scrutiny, sometimes even by those who could not hold a candle to your record. The fact that what we're studying right now is an interruption of a study of human rights in Iran speaks to the point I'm making.
Mr. Neve was here earlier and mentioned some things. I will quote him. He said that human rights are the most politicized and polarizing issues in the UN, that this issue is complex and politically charged, and that he had some concerns around the process but he didn't really want to say what they are before there is a full cycle. That's fair; I understand that. But we were left with this feeling, and my colleague Mr. Marston just mentioned it again.... I don't like the perception that the committee that is dealing with the territories and provinces and federal government is some concoction of Dan Brown, because the meetings are in confidence.
Because we're short of time, I have one overarching question, and I've mentioned my concerns that underlie it. Mr. Marston has mentioned his concern, and I have the same concern about any jeopardy our reputation would come under as far as human rights are concerned. And I want to know how you feel, because I walked through the whole report and I think I counted 18 countries whose preambles were how much they appreciated the leadership of Canada in the dimension of human rights.
Do you have any concern that our reputation is at stake? I'm pretty confident with what you've just said: that there is a substantial follow-up process, that there is a seriousness around implementation, and that the benchmarking this time is going to be much different. Are you concerned regarding the reputation of Canada and our record and leadership on human rights?