Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, first, we need to say how much the family has been courageous in this tough time. Second, I want to thank all colleagues from both sides of the House who worked very hard for Mr. Alaradi to be free and will not stop working hard until he is actually free.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, it is really interesting that when the House had to vote on this issue a year ago, the government insisted that the word “explore” was in the motion. Why the government did it was because the government knew what I am saying today. The Conservative government knew that an existing law allows us to ban these individuals for their wrongdoing against Mr.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, speaking of breaking promises, the MP for London—Fanshawe has a lot to explain in her riding. But let us answer about the Magnitsky case. There are two issues here: banning the individuals, and the sanctions. On the first point, foreign nationals and their family members who are involved in human rights violations cannot enter Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, I suppose that one of the reasons the previous Conservative government never did what the member is now asking for was because it knew that the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act already had the power to ban these individuals from entering into Canada. Why did the Conservative government not say that at the time?

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, as a matter of fact, this government has increased the sanctions against Russia compared with the former government. The fact is that it is not only the law as it exists that would ban these individuals from coming to Canada, but regarding sanctions, the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development will be looking at that as part of its review of the Special Economic Measures Act.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, it is a fully responsible conviction to do everything we can to be sure that these individuals will be banned in Canada and that the sanctions will be appropriate. It is why I have proposed a way to do it and the committee has accepted it. Why during 10 years did the Conservatives do nothing but double-talk?

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, I can assure you that we never miss an opportunity to emphasize the importance of respecting human rights when we are in contact with the Saudi government. We never miss an opportunity, and we have had several of those opportunities. One reason why we have had several opportunities is that we have a relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, my colleague is completely right to say that what happened to Mr. Magnitsky is simply horrible. I note that we are able to stop the perpetrators of this crime with the current Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, because it is checking eligibility at the border.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, the party that is being consistent on this issue is the Liberal Party. The NDP promised to uphold the contract to win seats, but now that it has those seats, it wants to tell the families that depend on the contract they will lose their jobs because it will not sign the export permit for these Canadian vehicles.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, they should believe the Government of Canada and the Prime Minister. This is not a party that switches views after the election, after committing to everything before the election. The Prime Minister asked me to make sure that the power that the Minister of Foreign Affairs has to block the export permits, if equipment is built in Canada but is wrongly used regarding human rights or national interests of Canada and its allies, is used with a lot of rigour and transparency, which is what I will do.

Human Rights  Mr. Speaker, Canada strongly supports Israel and strongly fights against anti-Semitism on every front. Canada will never do anything other than that. It is something that we are very committed to doing, in every circumstance.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for giving me the opportunity to tell him and the House that, thanks to the excellent work of the Minister of Natural Resources, we have an agreement with the United States on renewable energy and natural resources. The two governments and all the representatives celebrated that agreement at the state dinner in Washington.

Iran  Mr. Speaker, I like the people of Iran. Yesterday, the UN rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran said that we should engage with Iran, that it was the best way to see improvements to the appalling situation of human rights in Iran.

Iran  Mr. Speaker, we will certainly not infringe on the judicial process, but I want to repeat what I said already about that. Canada is better off when we engage with the world. It was a mistake for the former government to withdraw from countries because we dislike the regimes. It was a mistake to withdraw from the United Nations.

Iran  Mr. Speaker, absolutely not, on the contrary. We are taking a very different approach. We will be frank with the governments with whom we disagree. We are also not going to practice empty-chair politics. We must get involved in the world if we hope to make progress. The world we are living in is not very nice and Canada has to help make it a better place.