Thank you for your question.
We're seeing this again and again. What we've seen in the case of Ukraine, for example, right now is how the Canadian government can use very effectively every tool in its tool kit, whether it's sanctions, asset freezes or accountability at the International Criminal Court, to really push forward and condemn the human rights abuses that are occurring. However, we also see, unfortunately, that it's really rare that this government has been using every tool in its tool kit to call out these abuses.
To answer your question, what happens when this government doesn't condemn the actions of allies like Israel when they commit serious human rights abuses, what happens when the government obstructs International Criminal Court proceedings—trying to investigate, for example, the Israeli government's actions in the Palestinian territories—is that it gives the green light for governments to commit these abuses.
We've seen the misuse of counterterrorism legislation. It's really important for this government to have a very principled approach to the misuse of counterterrorism legislation to muzzle peaceful human rights dissent. That should be a kind of red line. Whether it's an ally or a country where this government has very poor relations, whichever country is committing those types of abuses, misusing counterterrorism legislation as a way to muzzle peaceful dissent, there should be a statement of condemnation. When you don't see a statement of condemnation, it really gives a green light for other governments to do the same, but it also sends the message to civil society organizations that the Canadian government doesn't really care about their plight.
We've seen this in a number of countries. We've seen this in Egypt, we've seen this in Israel, we've seen this elsewhere. When this government is close to a particular government, we don't see the same robust action, the same robust condemnation. We often see radio silence. That really sends a very worrying message and signal to civil society organizations and partner groups that are really looking to Canada to have a principled and pragmatic approach to these abuses.