When I first got the documentation today and saw Mrs. Ebadi's name, it made me think about when we had that fine woman before this committee. From my perspective, it was a very special day. I mean, when you sit across from somebody and get to look them in the eye, with the experiences that we know they have had and are currently going through....
I spent six months in Saudi Arabia in 1979, and to some degree was exposed to some of their punishments. In fact, by complete accident I was close by to an execution one day in the parking lot of a mosque. When you hear the statement that we have juveniles executed there, it just makes you cringe. It's one of those things you'd rather not even believe possible in our world.
There's something I've been concerned about, and have raised with this committee. You've used the periodic review as an opportunity that's coming up, and I've wondered for a while now.... The periodic review of Canada, of course, is nowhere near on the same kind of record as Iran. I'm not suggesting anything so ridiculous. But as a result of our own record being called into question from to time—we haven't signed on to OPCAT, and there are our aboriginal rights and land claims, and of course male violence, particularly against women, in Canada, and things of this nature that have been raised over time—do you think Canada's reputation and our moral authority have been damaged to some extent when we deal with countries like Iran?