House of Commons Hansard #12 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was chair.
Mélanie Joly Liberal Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC
Mr. Speaker, as I told my colleague, we will always be there to protect Canadians, in Afghanistan or elsewhere in the world. That is a priority for our government.
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Mr. Speaker, could the minister explain why the refugee program changed one criterion from “in Afghanistan” to “outside of Afghanistan”?
Mélanie Joly Liberal Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC
Mr. Speaker, I would like my colleague to tell us why, in their own election platform last August, the Conservatives did not have plans to bring in 40,000 Afghan refugees. Why were they against the refugee program that was proposed by the government?
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Mr. Speaker, when it comes to refugees and taking people in, this pertains to specific situations and would not necessarily be included in an election platform. It is also a matter of planning and responding. Back in 2015, Prime Minister Harper said that we would take in 10,000 Syrians. Then, during the election campaign, a dead little boy washed up on a beach. The Liberals then said that they would take in 25,000 Syrians.
Supplementary Estimates (B), 2021-22Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
Some hon. members
Oh, oh!
Supplementary Estimates (B), 2021-22Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
December 7th, 2021 / 8:20 p.m.
Conservative
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
That is what you did, and that is what happened. There is nothing at all distasteful about saying that; that is what happened during the 2015 election campaign. Remember that, everybody: You played politics with that.
Supplementary Estimates (B), 2021-22Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
Some hon. members
Oh, oh!
Supplementary Estimates (B), 2021-22Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
The Speaker Anthony Rota
Again, I must remind members to direct their comments and questions to the Chair and not directly to each other.
The hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Mélanie Joly Liberal Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC
Mr. Speaker, I did not hear my colleague ask a question. However, the name of that little boy was Aylan Kurdi. He had a name and an identity, and that was a tragedy.
I would like my colleague to apologize to the House for referring to this tragedy as though it were a mere partisan ploy during the 2015 election campaign.
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Mr. Speaker, I do not have to apologize for bringing up what was obviously a tragic event. At the time, the Liberals hitched their campaign to that tragic event to boost their numbers in the polls and portray the Conservatives as heartless. That is what happened with that tragic event.
Back to the matter at hand. Let us talk about international relations and foreign affairs, specifically our relationship with the United States and the current issue.
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I am starting to wonder what relevance this line of questioning has to the estimates of supply. It seems to me that the member is going to back to 2015 and citing something that is not relevant to the budgetary measures being brought forward by the government.
Supplementary Estimates (B), 2021-22Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
The Speaker Anthony Rota
I would like to remind hon. members to keep it as relevant as possible, but I have seen stranger things where people seem to be going off on a tangent and manage to bring it back. I trust wholeheartedly that all members in this chamber will do this with dignity and respect.
I will go back to the hon. member for Charlesbourg—Haut-Saint-Charles.
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Mr. Speaker, I was answering the minister's question about the fact that our election platform did not say anything about the number of refugees we were prepared to take in. That is where the discussion started.
I will give my colleague the floor.
Supplementary Estimates (B), 2021-22Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
Mélanie Joly Liberal Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC
Mr. Speaker, we can be proud of the way Canadians responded to the Syrian crisis in 2015. We can be proud that Canadians opened their arms and their hearts and welcomed Syrian refugees. I know that we can count on that same generosity with the Afghan refugees.
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Mr. Speaker, I will be directing all my questions to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In 2018, Parliament unanimously passed a bill that I brought forward on Magnitsky sanctions, holding gross human rights violators who are foreign officials to account. Unfortunately, the government has not used it since 2018. Last week, the parliament the European Union actually did a report and scolded the Government of Canada for failing to hold corrupt foreign officials to account.
When will the Minister of Foreign Affairs finally use the Magnitsky act to sanction those gross human rights violators?
Mélanie Joly Liberal Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC
Mr. Speaker, I want to reassure my colleague that we are very much aware that using sanctions against individuals in certain contexts to deter their actions, or to deter the actions they can have on the part of their states, is a very effective tool.
That is why, even recently, we made sure to put sanctions on people in Nicaragua, to make sure that we were sending a clear message about what was going on in the country and its failed elections. That is why we have put sanctions on 440 people within the Russian regime, to make sure we could deter them from taking military actions against Ukraine.
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Foreign Affairs was a member of Parliament back in 2018 when she voted in favour of the Magnitsky sanctions. It was good enough to pass then, but was she just virtue signalling to the diaspora communities here in Canada and in countries such as Ukraine, Belarus, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and to the people who we are standing up for human rights and democracy around the world? Was she just virtue-signalling to them at that point in time? Why is the minister not using Magnitsky sanctions against all those people who are abusing human rights around the world?
Mélanie Joly Liberal Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC
Mr. Speaker, of course, there are different acts that provide sanctions the Government of Canada can use. I would like to mention that right now there are 1,446 listings under the Special Economic Measures Act. Of those 1,446 listings, Belarus has 77 individuals; Myanmar has 124; China has five; Iran has 202; Nicaragua has 24; Russia has 210; and I could go on.
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Mr. Speaker, after the Minister of Foreign Affairs was appointed, I sent a letter asking her to review all the correspondence and names that were submitted by my colleagues and me about human rights abusers, including those who harvest organs from Falun Gong practitioners in China, those responsible in Iran for the downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, and those responsible for the human rights abuses we see from the regime in Tehran.
We also want to make sure that we are holding to account those who have been violating the human rights of innocent protesters who have been arrested as political prisoners in Hong Kong, and of the journalists and political prisoners who are being held right now in detention in Belarus. Why would she not use the Sergei Magnitsky Law to send a signal, in concert with the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States?
Mélanie Joly Liberal Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC
Mr. Speaker, obviously, we have many sanctions. I want to continue to list some of them. My colleague mentioned Magnitsky. There are 30 individuals who have been listed under the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, which the member was referring to as the Magnitsky act, upon whom sanctions have been imposed. This system is being used by the government, and we have a rigorous process.
Regarding the downing of flight PS752, we are looking at all the tools in our tool box to make sure the families of the victims are able to seek justice from the Iranian regime.
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Mr. Speaker, one request from the families of the Iranian and Ukrainian communities that lost loved ones in the downing of flight PS752 is that we list the Quds Force and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as terrorist organizations. Why has the minister not listed IRGC as a terrorist organization?
Mélanie Joly Liberal Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC
Mr. Speaker, as my colleague well knows, the IRGC Quds Force is listed as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code.
That being said, I must say that I have had many conversations regarding the downing of flight PS752, even recently, with my Ukrainian, Swedish and U.K. counterparts. We will act together to make sure we are able to seek justice from Iran on this very important issue.
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Mr. Speaker, we all know that Russia is amassing about 175,000 troops on the borders of Ukraine. President Biden had calls and discussions yesterday with President Putin, France, Germany, Italy and Great Britain. Why did he not call Canada?
Mélanie Joly Liberal Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC
Mr. Speaker, I had the chance to talk with Secretary Blinken about this very issue three times over the past three weeks. Obviously, for us Ukraine is a fundamental priority. We will make sure we work with like-minded countries to hold Russia to account and deter any military action on Ukraine.