Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on May 4th, 2021

[Catherine Coumans]

Yes, I want to briefly say that when we think about the situation that has just been described to us, we see that Canada intersects in this reality in the Philippines in at least two ways: through our embassy, which is not doing enough to protect people, even people who come to the embassy to seek help, and through our corporations. In particular, our mining companies are making use of the militarization of the Philippines, the red-tagging, the impunity and the criminalization of dissent. When people oppose a mine because it's impacting their lives and livelihoods, they are being red-tagged, and their lives are threatened by extrajudicial killing.

We have to look again at how to hold our corporations to account for the activities that they are involved in overseas, particularly in places like the Philippines with the human rights situation as it is there now. We have to hold them to account in Canada, and our embassy has to be more active in protecting the human rights of people who come to seek support and help.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you.

Ms. Ressa.

[Maria Ressa]

Thank you so much for asking me to speak to you today.

I go back to just painting a picture of an environment of violence, fear and insidious manipulation—when you have 100% of Filipinos on the Internet on Facebook, the insidious manipulation that is used by state-sponsored actors to manipulate us.

With regard to that question, in that environment, do we truly have free will? Do we have independence? I postulate to you that we may not, that we don't, that this is the time for those who do have power and money to step up and bring up the values that are important for a democracy because at this point if you don't, silence is complicity.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you.

Ms. Dwyer.

[Emily Dwyer]

Thank you very much. Good evening, everyone.

I would just say very quickly it's quite clear, hearing this context, that what's needed when we're looking at the operation of Canadian companies is for Canada not to simply have an expectation of behaviour, not to simply have access to voluntary dispute mechanisms. There need to be real mechanisms in place to ensure that corporations are required to prevent human rights abuse, undertake due diligence and face real consequences in Canada, including the ability to be sued in court and have there be real, independent investigations.

I think it's quite clear that, in this context, we need to question whether there's a way to ensure that Canadian companies are not fuelling, supporting and directly or indirectly fostering this violence. I think the situation right now is that is not the case and there is certainly complicity.

Thank you very much, everyone.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you.

Ms. Palabay, you have the final word.

[Cristina Palabay]

I think that whether there's a public health emergency or not, there should be no lockdown on human rights, and we should normalize putting rights at the front and centre of governance and of our society. At the same time, we enjoin the Canadian government to speak out with us and to work with us in achieving justice and accountability in the country.

Thank you for having us today.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you.

On behalf of the committee, we thank you, all, for your testimony, for the many questions that you answered, for your courage and for being with us today. Thank you very much.

That will conclude this panel.

[An hon. member]

Thank you, everyone.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

My thanks to all the witnesses.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

I do need the members just for two minutes, and then we'll be done.

We need to dispose of two very quick items, committee business first. Do I see agreement for the proposed study budget for a study on human trafficking and modern slavery? Is everybody okay? Give a thumbs-up. Great. Thanks a lot.

Second, can we set a deadline for the submission of witness lists for the study on human trafficking and modern slavery? The clerk has suggested next Wednesday, May 12, at 5 p.m. for prioritized lists. Does that work for everybody? Again, give a thumbs-up. Okay, that's 5 p.m. on May 12.

Thank you, colleagues. The next time we meet will be for briefings on Turkey and northern Syria and Colombia.

I see a hand up.

Monsieur Brunelle-Duceppe, yes.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I love you dearly and I know it's difficult for you to do your job, given the problems with interpretation and many other things. However, I calculated the time and I noticed that, during my two rounds last week, I lost a minute and a half of speaking time in total because of the delays related to interpretation and points of order. I wanted to let you know. But this evening, I did not lose any minutes from my time. It went well.

I just wanted to let you know that you have to be careful with silences. It's not your fault. I understand it's difficult, and there's work to be done, but we have done the math and I could send you the excerpts with no problem, if you ask me to. I don't think we should lose any of our time because of the delays in interpretation. That's all I have to say.

I wish you all a good evening.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you.

Have a good evening, everybody.

The meeting is adjourned.