Foreign Affairs committee  It's a very good question, Madame Laverdière, and it is an issue that is currently under discussion with our new minister with regard to an agenda related to human rights, which he may or may not wish to pursue.

National Defence committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Honourable members, thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. Canada, like many other countries, is gravely concerned by North Korea's reckless and provocative actions in pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. This concern is n

National Defence committee  Yes, there is, but there has been no direct threat to Canada. In fact, on the contrary, in recent contacts with the North Korean government, including in August when our national security adviser was in Pyongyang, the indications were that they perceived Canada as a peaceful and

National Defence committee  Yes.

National Defence committee  In terms of whether we have reached our ultimate destination, we have not yet succeeded there. Diplomacy requires a great deal of patience. I would just highlight, as an example, that the efforts that resulted in the nuclear agreement with Iran took more than a decade of painst

National Defence committee  I think history is going to tell us whether we're having some effect. It's pretty hard to discern where we're at right now. I think we're in a pre-negotiating phase where both sides are trying to improve their leverage by the time they reach the negotiating table. But I think Nor

National Defence committee  I think Minister Freeland feels that Canada has a role because we are a trusted partner to many of the principal players, whether South Korea, the United States, or Japan, and we have, I believe, credibility in the eyes of the others, such as China. Recently our contacts with Nor

National Defence committee  As I said, we've had no indication that North Korea perceives Canada as an enemy and no evidence that it is taking measures to target Canada. You mentioned Canada's role in the United Nations Command group of countries that took action in the Korean War. We are still a significa

National Defence committee  We're absolutely supportive of diplomacy, but I think we have to be mindful of the lessons of the past and the positions of our friends and allies. Currently, the United States is not yet prepared to sit down on an unconditional basis. The North Koreans, on the other hand, have i

National Defence committee  You're forcing me to go back a long time in the memory banks, and I can't say for sure that you're correct or not. I do know that there was a lengthy period, several years in fact, of what we would call pre-negotiation before they actually sat down. A good deal of diplomatic effo

National Defence committee  I think Canada is playing a role. I think Minister Freeland has been very active and energetic in engaging her counterparts in all the principal countries in pushing for diplomatic solutions here and making it clear that Canada is available to offer whatever kind of assistance mi

National Defence committee  It's very difficult to determine what impact sanctions may be having on the thinking in Pyongyang. The role that sanctions plays—it is accepted, at least by those who are supportive of sanctions—is to raise the stakes, raise the costs, to a regime like Pyongyang that is flouting

National Defence committee  Let me make one comment, and then I'll ask my colleague to add to it. We are not naive about the role that sanctions might play. It is but a single tool in a tool box that we have to use. Sanctions are less impactful, perhaps, in a place like North Korea because their external t

National Defence committee  Every country is obliged to fully comply with Security Council resolutions in the imposition of sanctions. In many cases, some countries simply don't have the capacity to do what can be a very complex and difficult thing. Countries like Canada and others offer support to those co

National Defence committee  It's difficult to predict, but one thing that you might watch for is a pause in the kind of missile and nuclear tests that we've seen. That might suggest that the regime feels that it's prepared to sit down at the table, having done the necessary work to test its systems. There