Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I would say they have the same understanding of their duty to consult as the federal government, which at the end of the day is close to meaningless consultation.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I don't know what the federal road map will be. I'm puzzled a bit by the expression “road map”. We may have reason to believe there will be a legitimate temptation to go for benchmarking--where are we now, and where will we be in four years? Indicators have limits. We'll have to make sure those indicators are designed from the human rights perspective.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you. I came to the University of Ottawa three years ago. Previously I was a professor at the University of Montreal. I've been involved with civil society organizations--sometimes I feel forever--over those UN participation and human rights issues. With due respect, I'll take my example from Quebec.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you. May I quote first a few lines from the report of the working group? This is from paragraph nine of the report: Canada views the participation of civil society as an important aspect of the UPR process, and acknowledged the dissatisfaction expressed by civil-society representatives regarding the timing and nature of its UPR consultations.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I think we can't separate the political will from the tools available. We are looking at the introduction of a new tool. But the Canadian government's Roadmap cannot disregard compliance with obligations it has agreed to or undertaken by treaty. So we must not lose sight of the monitoring and oversight mechanisms set out in instruments that have been ratified.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  There are permanent tools that can't be described if we are outside the system, including the famous federal/provincial/territorial committee. Really, at present, the permanence, or ongoing oversight of Canada's international obligations is handled by an institution made up of the human rights commissions, which serve as a relay to the respective provincial justice ministries.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you for the question. Two examples come to my mind. The first one is Brazil. Brazil has a continuous process, where institutions as well as civil society representatives are involved all the time. So there isn't this big rush six months before producing any report whatsoever, either dedicated to an expert committee, or now in the case of the Human Rights Council procedure.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The case of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture is a little baffling. It is rare to see a case that starts out as rumour and then becomes logical, because, we are told, we don't know precisely why some provinces would object, in particular, to the requirements relating to prison inspection.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you, Mr. Co-Chair. I would like to thank the members of the committee for their interest and I congratulate them on the welcome initiative taken by the subcommittee, to highlight the importance of this new procedure by the Human Rights Council, the UPR, the Universal Periodic Review.