Mr. Speaker, on February 12, the North Korean regime once again showed its reckless disregard for regional peace and security by conducting its third nuclear test.
In response to this provocative and serious threat, today the UN Security Council adopted serious sanctions against the rogue regime. These expanded sanctions send a clear and strong message to those in Pyongyang, and Canada was proud to be one of the co-sponsors.
Our government already has some of the strongest sanctions in the world on the regime in Pyongyang, and we have been clear that these recent actions would bear consequences.
The true travesty is that the North Korean people continue to starve and are denied basic human dignity, while the regime squanders limited resources. It is high time that North Korea reverse this dangerous course, abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and focus its scarce resources on the living conditions of its people.