Mr. Speaker, it is an absolute pleasure for me to rise on our last day in Centre Block to make a statement.
On behalf of the Latin American community in my riding of Davenport and right across the country, I would like to put a spotlight on the continuing deterioration of the state of affairs in Venezuela
Almost 3 million Venezuelans have fled to surrounding countries, causing one of the largest migrations in the history of Latin America and putting an enormous strain on local services in countries such as Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Argentina.
There is a humanitarian crisis, with millions of Venezuelans lacking access to food, medicines, and other basic necessities of life. Then there are the human rights abuses, the extrajudicial killings, the violent crackdowns on protesters, activists and journalists.
Canada has condemned the role of the current regime in the ongoing political and economic crisis and has imposed economic sanctions on officials, and we were one of the first countries in the Americas to denounce the human rights situation.
We will continue to be vigilant to what is happening in Venezuela.