Mr. Speaker, Amnesty International is concerned. It describes the deterioration in the federal government's support for basic rights and democracy as flagrant.
In addition, in a report released yesterday, Amnesty condemns the government's lack of protection of human rights in Canada, including aboriginal rights, when issuing licences for mining, logging and petroleum and other resource extraction. Amnesty also considers that Canada's failure to ratify the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is indefensible and criticizes the government's inaction on violence against aboriginal women.
But Amnesty's criticisms do not stop there: recalling the testimony of Richard Colvin, the organization expresses concern about the fate of Afghan detainees. It also points out that child soldier Omar Khadr is the only westerner still being held in Guantanamo.
If it wants to stop being an international laughingstock, the federal government must regain its credibility on the issue of human rights.