Mr. Speaker, first I would like to thank the hon. member for Hamilton East—Stoney Creek for raising this issue. It has been followed very closely and with great intensity by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as numerous departmental officials in Ottawa and Beijing who are responsible for consular services and diplomatic relations with China.
I can assure the hon. member that the government will not stop pursuing the issue until satisfactory answers are received from the Chinese government regarding the rights and well-being of Canadian citizens in China.
Canada and China share important political, economic and social ties. Canada remains committed to strengthening this bilateral relationship. Given this relationship, our primary goal will always be to protect the interests of Canadians and to hold steadfast on our values. We understand China's considerable and growing importance to Canada and the world, both politically and economically, but we will not compromise our values.
For these reasons we remain committed to full and constructive relations with the government of the People's Republic of China whenever our interests are at stake. We will continue to push forward an open, honest and constructive dialogue aimed at the betterment of our relations.
Canada is engaged in a number of important discussions with China on a wide variety of matters complemented by high level visits. The Prime Minister met with the Chinese president in Vietnam. The Minister of Foreign Affairs met with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Li on three occasions last year. The ministers of Agriculture and Natural Resources made official visits to China last year, and the ministers of International Trade and Finance have already visited this year.
Canada welcomed China's minister of labour last year. Parliamentary delegations visited China last year as well as twice this year. These ministerial and parliamentary contacts, as well as senior exchanges from the Canadian provinces, the private sector, municipalities and academia serve to entrench the growing practical cooperation between our two governments.
With regard to the case of Mr. Celil, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs have both raised this case during their meetings with Chinese officials. During every one of the visits I mentioned earlier, Mr. Celil's case was raised at every opportunity.
Senior foreign affairs staff met with the Chinese ambassador and reaffirmed our requirement for access to and information about Mr. Celil. Senior bureaucrats and diplomatic staff continue to use every opportunity to raise this case with their Chinese counterparts. This will continue until we receive a satisfactory response from the Chinese government.
I would like to assure the hon. member that we are making every effort to obtain access to Mr. Celil in China. He is a Canadian and we will use every opportunity and every means we deem appropriate to confirm Mr. Celil's well-being to ensue that he is afforded due process and that his rights are respected.