Canada, like several other countries that have a very respectable human rights record, is seen as such in the world, but doesn't necessarily have the political authority to impose an immediate economic change. However, Canada has the authority, the moral credibility so to speak, to be able to talk about human rights and teach lessons to other countries on them. There is a lot to say to and discuss with Egyptian diplomacy within that framework. I invite you to read the Agenda for Change for Egypt that we published immediately after Mubarak left power. The document has a large number of recommendations concerning human rights in Egypt, including the end of discrimination, and allowing the construction of churches for Copts. It also recommends the end of discrimination against officials within the Egyptian state structure where, in general, Copts are underrepresented, as is the case in some sectors of security, for example.
We think it is very important, for reasons of faith in human rights and for diplomatic reasons, that the interlocutor of Egyptians be on solid ground if it is to teach them about human rights. We have seen how difficult it is to address the issue of human rights with the Egyptian government, to prove to it that there are violations and to get it to recognize them. One of the methods the Egyptian government uses to avoid that is to tell us that other countries do the same thing or something similar. It just looks for excuses by using what is done in other countries to justify its own violations.