Mr. Speaker, as the member opposite knows, we continue to call for those principles around the world and will continue to stand strongly for them and speak up on these issues.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 69% of the vote.
Foreign Affairs February 6th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, as the member opposite knows, we continue to call for those principles around the world and will continue to stand strongly for them and speak up on these issues.
Foreign Affairs February 6th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, Canada considers the punishment that is faced by Mr. Badawi to be a violation of his human dignity. We continue to call for clemency in his case.
The promotion and the protection of human rights around the world is an integral part of Canada's foreign policy, and we will continue to pursue that.
Foreign Affairs February 6th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite has gotten up and asked questions about our response to ISIS, and we have responded in the areas he has been concerned about. We have responded in the areas of sexual violence, protecting minorities, dealing with war criminals, and dealing with refugees, and we are proud of the effort our country has put into dealing with this issue and dealing with the crisis in Iraq and Syria, and we will continue to work on the issue.
Foreign Affairs February 5th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada will continue to advocate on behalf of Bashir Makhtal. We have actively engaged the Government of Ethiopia to the highest level, including through our former foreign affairs minister, for due process and the protection of his rights. The Privacy Act limits the specific details we can discuss, but I can tell members that if his family were to sign a waiver, we would be prepared to discuss this matter further.
Through our government's actions, we continue to provide consular access to ensure the health and welfare of Mr. Makhtal and to provide updates to his family.
Foreign Affairs February 4th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, Canada supports the ambitions of Ukrainians for a free, democratic and prosperous country. We have been supporting them in these efforts.
We have imposed a broad range of political and economic sanctions, pledging support to help Ukraine stabilize its economy and to promote economic and social development. We have been providing non-lethal security assistance and training for members of the Ukrainian military.
Foreign Affairs February 3rd, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I already addressed the issue of the sanctions, but I can tell members that Canada has been a leader. Everyone knows that. We have been a leader in the global response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, and we have been one of Ukraine's strongest supporters.
I can go through a whole list of things we have done. We have provided over $515 million in assistance to Ukraine just in the last year. We have placed sanctions against more than 210 individuals and entities. That is more than our U.S. and EU allies. We have confirmed Ukraine as a development country of focus and as a profile country under our global markets action plan. We have contributed hundreds of observers to help monitor democratic Ukrainian elections. We have provided funds and technical advisers to them. We will continue to work with Ukraine.
Foreign Affairs February 3rd, 2015
Mr. Speaker, as I said, Canada has some of the strongest export controls in the world. They include the Export and Import Permits Act and the Automatic Firearms Country Control List.
In addition, we rigorously assess all exports of military goods and technology on a case-by-case basis. We believe that the ATT actually brings other countries up to our standards. We will continue to maintain some of the highest standards in the world on these issues.
Foreign Affairs February 3rd, 2015
Mr. Speaker, signing the Arms Trade Treaty would not improve on how Canada assesses exports of military items. We already have one of the strongest export control systems in the world. The ATT actually brings other countries up to the standards we already have.
There are some concerns about how the treaty affects lawful and responsible firearms owners. As such, we continue to consult various stakeholders and experts on their views.
Foreign Affairs February 3rd, 2015
Mr. Speaker, Canada has one of the strongest sanctions regimes in the world, which has been coordinated with our allies to target key individuals and entities and to isolate Russia politically and economically.
Russia's ongoing campaign of aggression against Ukraine is disgraceful. It continues to show a shocking willingness to sacrifice civilian lives to achieve its illegitimate goals. We call on Russia to immediately respect a ceasefire, to immediately end its support of these proxies, and to allow peace to return to eastern Ukraine.
Foreign Affairs February 3rd, 2015
Mr. Speaker, both the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Consular have raised this issue of Mr. Fahmy's case with their counterparts, and I can tell the House that this has been raised at all levels of our government. We welcome positive developments and remain hopeful that Mr. Fahmy's case will be resolved shortly.