Mr. Speaker, last month, South Korean media reported the execution of 80 people in North Korea, killed for among other crimes, possession of a bible. While North Korea may be the most extreme case, unfortunately, it is not the only country in the world that practises religious persecution.
Religious freedom is an inalienable right deeply intertwined with our other rights. Freedom to proselytize, to convert, to worship are all elements of religious freedom that are denied in dozens of countries around the world.
Our Government's establishment of the Office of Religious Freedom clearly shows that Canada continues to view religious freedom as a fundamental value. We will continue to promote religious freedom throughout the world.
Canadian MPs, as individual parliamentarians, must continue to press governments around the world on behalf of the persecuted everywhere.
On behalf of Ahmadiyya Muslims in Pakistan, Chaldean Christians in Iraq and Evangelical Protestants in Vietnam, we owe religious minorities our voice in defending their rights both in Canada and abroad.