House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 48% of the vote.
Omar Khadr May 6th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, as I have said before, Canada's position regarding Mr. Omar Khadr has not changed. Mr. Khadr faces very serious charges, including murder.
The Obama administration has opted to send Omar Khadr to a military commission and we are letting that process unfold.
Omar Khadr May 6th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, perhaps he should ask his question of someone else as he does not like to hear my answer.
The fact of the matter is that the government's position has not changed. Mr. Khadr faces very serious charges, and we will await what is happening at Guantanamo Bay before we make any kind of decision.
Omar Khadr May 6th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I do appreciate the member's question, but the fact of the matter remains that Canada's position regarding Mr. Khadr has not changed. Mr. Khadr faces very serious charges, including murder. The Obama administration has opted to send Omar Khadr to a military commission, and we are letting that process proceed and unfold.
Omar Khadr May 4th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, as I have stated, our position regarding Mr. Khadr has not changed. Mr. Khadr faces very serious charges, including that of murder. The Government of Canada continues to provide consular services to Mr. Khadr. Again, the Government of Canada has complied with the Supreme Court's February 16, 2010 ruling.
Omar Khadr May 4th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, our position on this matter has not changed. Mr. Omar Khadr faces very serious charges, including that of murder and attempted murder. The Government of Canada continues to provide consular services to Mr. Khadr.
In answer to the member's question about the Supreme Court's decision, the Government of Canada has complied with the Supreme Court's February 16, 2010 ruling.
Mr. Speaker, I want to tell the hon. member that it is this government that has allocated an unprecedented amount of money and resources to maintain our sovereignty over the Arctic.
This government, as the Prime Minister has said, has to assert our sovereignty over the north. Our sovereignty comes from a lot of other actions, including the one the hon. member is talking about, providing search and rescue, research stations and everything. This government is committed to doing it and money has been allocated toward those projects.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to speak about a very important event regarding the Arctic which the Minister of Foreign Affairs recently hosted in Canada.
The hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs invited the foreign ministers of the five Arctic Ocean coastal states, Canada, Denmark, Norway, the Russian Federation and the United States of America, to Chelsea on March 29, 2010. The minister had a forward-looking dialogue on issues related to the roles and responsibilities that each of these countries have in their jurisdiction in the Arctic Ocean.
This is in addition to the commitments that all five countries made in 2008 at the Ilulissat declaration and complements our discussions and collaboration with all Arctic states, Arctic indigenous people and others through the Arctic Council, the central forum for international co-operation on Arctic issues.
It is entirely appropriate for the five countries bordering the Arctic Ocean to get together to discuss issues of mutual importance. The fact that the five countries all sent senior ministers indicates that they think this is a very important conference, too.
For example, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton highlighted on CTV some of the reasons that the five countries should get together. She said, “If there is an oil spill or if there is an accident out there on a platform of some kind, who is going to come? It is going to be Canadians, Americans, Russians, Norwegians” and Danes. We are the ones who are going to be there first because we are the closest.
As far as the hon. member's assertion that northerners were not involved and his pointing out Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's comments, I would like to advise the member that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the chief diplomat of the U.S.A., not the chief diplomat of Canada. The chief diplomat of Canada is the hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs who works differently in Canada than they work in the United States.
Let me just put on the record very clearly that the Minister of Foreign Affairs met with territorial premiers and indigenous representatives to talk about the Chelsea meeting before it took place, because our government highly values the fundamental role that northerners contribute to the international Arctic issue. This meeting was in addition to the regular high-level Arctic Council advisory committee that we have in place that meets regularly to discuss important Arctic issues.
In closing, Canada did the right thing. We took a leadership position on an issue important to Canadians that resulted in action.
Mr. Speaker, with regard to the hon. member saying that Canada has been embarrassed with our allies, that is absolutely utter nonsense. Canada came out with an enhanced agreement in 2007 that ensures that the detainees who are transferred by Canada to detention facilities are monitored by Canadian officials. Over 200 visits have been made to detention facilities to ensure that no torture of detainees takes place, in accordance with international law.
What the hon. member forgot to say is that during the committee hearings, every Canadian official from the military, in the prisons, everyone who is over there have all said they know what their international obligations are and, accordingly, they work under those international obligations. We are extremely proud of their efforts in Afghanistan.
Mr. Speaker, I will begin by saying that the government does not find itself in any trouble, contrary to what the member is saying. However, I would like to thank the hon. member for his question and the opportunity to set the record straight with regard to the 2007 proposal to build a Kabul-based national directorate security detention facility, as well as discuss our efforts to help the government of Afghanistan meet its domestic and international obligations with respect to the treatment of detainees.
In response to the hon. member's question, I would like to clarify that the proposal to build the Kabul-based national directorate security detention facility in 2007 was a U.K.-led initiative, which ultimately did not come to pass. To be clear, Canada never promised to build a detention facility in Afghanistan.
At the time the reference letter was sent, Canada was still in the early stages of determining the scope of our support for the initiatives as part of our broad effort to strengthen Afghan correction capabilities. The extent of our potential support would, nevertheless, have been limited to ameliorating the living conditions for both staff and inmates through funding for the construction of a clinic and administrative facility. I would also like to underscore that the proposed facility would have remained in the hands of the NDS and would have been run and operated by the Afghans.
As the Minister of Foreign Affairs has said, Canada is not in the business of building or running Afghan prisons. Rather, Canada is committed to looking closely at the government of Afghanistan to strengthen its capacity regarding the treatment of detainees. I assure everyone that Canadian officials continue to lend their expertise to ongoing efforts to strengthen Afghan institutions, to find ways to further strengthen the NDS capacity regarding respect for human rights, and the handling of detainees and record keeping.
To the member's question on what Canada has been doing, I would like to say that to enhance prison conditions Canada is funding over $5.5 million in infrastructure projects, support and training in detention facilities in Kandahar. Further, as part of our capacity-building efforts, we have also provided $7 million over four years to help strengthen the capacity of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission to monitor human rights in Afghanistan, including those of prisoners in detention facilities.
Canada is committed to working closely with the government of Afghanistan to strengthen its capacity regarding the treatment of detainees and we are doing so in collaboration with our allies.
Omar Khadr April 30th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, our government's position has not changed on this matter.
Mr. Omar Khadr faces very serious charges, including murder, attempted murder, support for terrorism and spying. However, the Government of Canada continues to provide consular services to Mr. Khadr. DFAIT officials are in attendance at his pre-trial hearing.