Mr. Normandin, I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you.
I'm sure that the Canadian government is proceeding in a way to best influence the situation in Honduras. In fact, we receive some grassroots information. You may even know that Craig Scott, the member for Toronto—Danforth, was part of the alternative truth and reconciliation commission. My legislative assistant was an observer in their elections. We've had a number of people come to us with concerns.
I don't know whether you're aware of this, and I'm not really seeking commentary on what I'm about to say because it is political, but apparently Hillary Clinton spoke recently about how they had supported the coup. The things we're hearing are not as on track.
Obviously the efforts of the Canadian government seem to be fairly broad in what they're trying to accomplish, but we're certainly hearing that the optimism we hear from you today isn't quite supported on the ground.
I'd be glad to offer you some of the sources we have; we can send them to you. We have reports that come in from the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, even The Guardian newspaper. There are a number of areas that seem to contradict the sense we're getting from your report to us today. They're claiming that journalists, indigenous leaders, and human rights defenders are threatened and murdered. The words I hear is that it is the murder capital of the world.
One area we hear about too is the war on drugs being used to displace people from their land. I see you are acknowledging that.
It's almost as if the government is giving responses.... For instance, the laws you have referenced that have been passed are almost a form of appeasement, when you look at it from the ground level and see their lack of impact. That may well be because they don't have the resources, training, and all the things we're working on. Or is it that the corruption is so endemic there that it's hard to get past it?