Mr. Sweet, the whole thrust of my report is that Canada should take the leadership role; that's what I'm saying. I don't mince words in the report; I make it very clear. In order for us to be a leader, we have to be prepared to take measures ourselves and be prepared to make investments ourselves.
In building that coalition, that group of like-minded countries, we have to recognize that while you say we've invested millions in Burma, we have historically done very little in Burma. For a long time there was virtually no economic or political relationship between our government and the Government of Burma. We didn't have any diplomatic representation; we had no aid program; we had nothing for a very long period of time—for many decades.
During that time when we weren't there, guess who was there? The Chinese, big time, were always present and investing not a few million but billions of dollars into the Myanmar economy. The same thing is true in a different way for the Indian government and for a number of other Asian governments that have invested very heavily in Myanmar. When it comes to leverage, I wish we had more, but I think what we have to do is build up, with Bangladesh and with a number of other countries, a real effort to effect real change in Myanmar.
You're absolutely right. There are basic international standards that, I believe and I say in the report, I don't think by any stretch you can say the Government of Myanmar has lived up to. The fact is that more than 700,000 people left in the space of about four months' time; hundreds of villages were destroyed and thousands of people were killed; there's evidence of the use of rape as a tool of war; there are horrific examples of how people have been, as you said, dehumanized and marginalized over a long period of time. These are all examples of people not just having fallen short; this is a horrendous crime against humanity.
I talk very explicitly in my report about the genocide question, which you have raised with me and raised before—I know Mr. Genuis raised it publicly a few days ago—and provide the definitions and state what the steps are.
The key thing here is that we have to build a process by which a government or a parliament can make a determination. You can't just snap the word out of the air and say, I've read three newspaper articles and this is why I think it's genocide. There has to be a solemn process of determination to get us to the point where we can say that's what it is. I firmly believe this is what should happen. I have no hesitation in saying so. I think what has taken place....
Above all, as I said in my report, a genocide is not a lightning bolt out of the blue that happens in one day; it's a process. There's a terrible process that has been under way inside Myanmar, and it has had terrible consequences for the Rohingya and in my view has had terrible consequences for many other members of the Myanmar political community. Many other groups and people have been very badly affected by what has taken place.