Mr. Speaker, two decades ago the Canadian government created an organization called Rights & Democracy, which was able to function at arm's length from the government and work with civil society in emerging democracies. We have heard from other speakers tonight about the importance of Rights & Democracy.
For us to provide support to Iranian civil society, we need organizations that are non-governmental. The important piece is that they have to be non-governmental, otherwise the partners in Iran would be tagged with their association to a western government and would face further isolation and punishment. However, the government, as we indicated before, is killing Rights & Democracy.
How do the member and his government suggest we reach out to Iranian civil society when we are undermining our capacity to do so?