Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my colleague from Pierrefonds—Dollard. I cannot wait to hear his speech, even though I expect we have somewhat different views. I look forward to potentially asking him a question afterwards.
The matter before us today, recognition of the Uighur genocide in China, has come up in a number of committees, at times indirectly. I am a member of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, which is currently studying the situation in Hong Kong. I have often seen the similarities when questioning our witnesses about whether Canada should speak with a strong and consistent voice to help all groups that are currently experiencing repression in China. They were unanimous. The witnesses all told us that focusing solely on immigration measures, which is currently the suggested approach for Hong Kong, is ineffective if not backed by assertive diplomatic action. Yesterday, a witness even told us that if we tackle the underlying causes that lead to people becoming refugees, immigration measures would be unnecessary. That is what should be done. Everyone said Canada should take a stand against this international bully, against China, in support of human rights.
As for the technicality of recognizing genocide, since that is what I want to focus on, the definition comes to us from the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which Canada ratified in 1952. As many of my colleagues have done before me, I think it is important to look at the criteria set out in article II of the convention. The first point refers to the act of killing members of the group. A number of media sources have reported on the disappearance of several million Uighurs without any—