Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan for not only his question tonight, but his questions in the House that led to this adjournment debate opportunity.
I know it is a bit unconventional, but before I begin I want to just commend the member for Vancouver East for her Adjournment Proceedings speech and the questions today regarding racism that is directed toward Asian Canadians and Asians in the world. It was a very moving speech, and it is not unrelated to this in how we handle these issues extremely carefully and cautiously, as parliamentarians.
The hon. member is raising important human rights issues, and he is correct in the fact that I share his concerns. The government shares his concerns as well, and we are gravely concerned with the human rights violations in China, particularly those affecting Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
The government is also deeply disturbed by a recent report by the BBC, which I had thought the member might bring up, regarding documenting systemic sexual violence in the so-called re-education internment camps. Canada has reviewed the recent report as well as other compelling testimonies that have been provided to us, and I want to thank the members of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights for their work on this issue, as well as many civil society partners and human rights experts who continue to document atrocities and bring them to the attention of Parliament and of government. The government takes all reports of gender-based violence extremely seriously, and we stand with those victims and survivors and call on all governments to repair, to seek justice and to bring perpetrators to justice.
There are dehumanizing acts that are abhorrent to all of us in society, and that is the crux of this. The crux of this is not about words and language; the crux is about doing something proactively and ensuring that Canada's voice is heard on the world stage and that we will make a difference. We know that survivors of these kinds of atrocities will have lifelong effects. We will stand with them always and it is incumbent upon the international community to speak out against discrimination and violence wherever and whenever it happens.
The member is also correct in understanding that Parliament has spoken on this issue and the government has listened to Parliament, and that a few parliaments in the world have spoken and, in very similar ways, their governments are also assessing the situation differently. Governments and parliaments have different roles. This Parliament needs to reflect the concerns and the cares of the people we represent, and we do that; we represent our people well and we bring those issues to the fore. The government needs to ensure that they listen to that and bring to the world's attention those concerns, in maybe different ways but with equal import.
Canada has raised the human rights situation in Xinjiang on numerous occasions at the UN, which I have elocuted here before, including at the UN Human Rights Council and at the UN General Assembly. We have met with multilateral bodies and raised these concerns, as I have said, plus we have raised these issues with our like-minded partners as well as those who do not always agree with us. We have raised the human rights issues as well in China, and will continue to do that on a regular basis.
I appreciate the opportunity to expound on this conversation. I look forward to the member's further comments.