Foreign Affairs committee  If I recall correctly, Mr. Dewar was a little upset when he did not get his NGOs to talk about Burma because they did not think the Burma report was a complete report. Using the same argument, we imply over here that we listen to everyone, the ministers and everything. So I am asking that this motion be amended following this and that the foreign affairs committee call Mr.

Foreign Affairs committee  Would it surprise you that people have calculated that at present there is about $1.2 billion in Canadian indirect investment in Burma through our CPP? Is that something that would surprise anyone who is looking at that, the fact that it's not the exports or imports, but investments in Burma of $1.2 billion through our CPP?

Foreign Affairs committee  We have made a lot of efforts to organize a collective international response, in order to increase pressure on the regime in Burma. We are trying to figure out what else we can do. This is the challenge awaiting us in future. Maybe, as I didn't get to answer Mr. Bagnell, whose question relates directly to what you just asked....

Foreign Affairs committee  We are going to continue pressing at the United Nations as well, in both New York and in Geneva. There was a special session on Burma at the Human Rights Council in Geneva in October, and there will be a report presented at the upcoming session in March at the Human Rights Council, as a result of the visit of the special rapporteur on Burma.

Foreign Affairs committee  I don't want to be put in the position of trying to explain why Chinese foreign policy is what it is, or Indian or anybody else's besides Canadian. But look again at the data. The total exports of that country, Burma, were $3.6 billion in the most recently recorded year; imports were $2 billion. It does not have a burgeoning trading partnership with anybody. It is a country that's not completely isolated, but isolated to the point where it has abysmal conditions for its people.

Foreign Affairs committee  So it's isolated to a large extent. However, it's not isolated completely. The countries that are neighbouring on Burma and doing trade with it--the countries of ASEAN, India, China, and Russia, principally--are doing business with Burma. That's public knowledge. There's nothing secret about that, and that's why we have the conversations with those countries to see the extent to which we can convince them to bring pressure to bear.

Foreign Affairs committee  The way the measure works, it is a ban on indirect investment, which amounts to a controlling interest in an entity that then would be operating in Burma. That is intended to be the trigger. It's partially for practical reasons that it becomes extremely challenging to have a look at situations in which you're looking at Burma.

Foreign Affairs committee  Many Canadians are deeply concerned that there still are Canadian companies doing business in Burma. My question to you is, what tools do we have for Canadian companies to divest themselves from Burma now? Do we have none?

Foreign Affairs committee  What I can say, as a general matter, is that the sanctions that have been introduced under SEMA do deal with investments in a couple of ways. There is a prohibition on direct investment into Burma, and as a matter of indirect investments, there is prohibition with respect to investments that would amount to a controlling interest in an operation within Burma. So those are the two ways in which the existing measures that have been passed as a regulation to the Special Economic Measures Act have addressed the question of financial transactions of this sort.

Foreign Affairs committee  In the particular case you mentioned, the company put this operation up for sale in a third party trust further to pressure from the government. This operation is for sale in Burma and the conflict does not arise from this investment in Burma.

Foreign Affairs committee  Certainly we have anticipated your coming. All parties have been taken with the concerns that we have seen in Burma. Even in the midst of a fairly comprehensive study on Afghanistan, this motion came forward. We're pleased that you are able to be with us. If you could give us a presentation, we would then move into our first round of questioning.

Foreign Affairs committee  We'll deal with the first one now, which is that “pursuant to the motion agreed to on November 20, 2007, the committee hold a briefing session on Thursday, January 31, 2008 on Burma with officials from Foreign Affairs”. Are we in favour of accepting that portion of the steering committee's report? Mr. Dewar.

Foreign Affairs committee  This only allows us to continue with the department today. It does not prevent us from bringing witnesses on Burma in the future. I can say that very clearly. This talks about a briefing session on Thursday, January 31, 2008, on Burma with officials from Foreign Affairs. We still have a motion on that, and if we want to entertain other witnesses at a later date, that would be all right.

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Yukon for the fine work that he has done on Burma. The citizens of that country are some of the most desperate individuals as a result of their brutal and thuggish government. The member has tried very hard to get assets on the ground in times of emergency.

Foreign Affairs committee  I had a real response from the university in my constituency when they came down to my office and asked Canada to make a strong statement on Burma. As the committee chair, I stated that this committee I felt was very aware of what's going on in Burma and that there would be something coming out of this committee. That wasn't a promise I made based on any knowledge that Mr.