Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'm sorry?

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Chair, I don't think an opportunity goes by for high-level meetings where that issue is not discussed. It's top of mind and top of list in terms of our engagement with them. As my colleague said, we work together with the G16 and several like-minded countries in the region and el

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  If I may, Chair, regarding the latter part of your comments, there's no doubt that the situation in Honduras is a difficult one and not one that we think is acceptable. The Honduran authorities need to take action and to make decisions to address issues of human rights in their c

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  We have values in this country, and part of our foreign policy is to promote these values in our relations with other countries. When we have conversations with the Honduran government, we have open and frank discussions. I had mentioned that our assistant deputy minister was the

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, Chair. Of all the areas we've talked about today, this is one area where we are seeing a bit of progress. You heard from Mr. Craig the other day that it's a big part of what his organization is doing there. The Canadian government, in part of its capacity building and the a

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The professionalization of the police force and their capacity to conduct investigations is an area where we've seen improvement. We saw that recently in the Cáceres case, and others, where I think they're up to five arrests in the former case. We saw that the police were able to

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The only thing I can comment on is that Canada was quickly vocal about this. Within 24 hours, the Government of Canada, through our ambassador, issued a statement condemning this crime and asking Honduran officials act quickly on this and to find these criminals and bring them to

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  You mean the Honduran government?

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The only law I am familiar with is the one I mentioned in my remarks. I'm not sure that it's the same one the member is referring to. I mentioned the law for the protection of human rights defenders, journalists, social communicators, and justice operators.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, that's the one. We are talking about the same law, which is something that Canada publicly supported and advocated for with the Honduran government.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I would suggest that we can come back to the committee perhaps a year from now and provide an update to the member.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Chair, to be honest, I don't have the information about how Hondurans react or don't react to events in their country, but we can certainly conduct an analysis of that and provide information. What I do know is that the member is absolutely correct that impunity/corruption remai

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  As I mentioned earlier, as part of our development programming we do look at some of the root causes of the issues we're seeing in Honduras, particularly related to youth. I mentioned human rights, economic development, economic opportunities for young people, and educational pro

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Absolutely. Yes. This is a core part of our programming, and I should say not just in Honduras but in Central America writ large. As I mentioned earlier, the promotion of human rights is core to Canada's engagement in the region, as is promoting democracy, strong governments, pub

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Chair, I can speak to members about the last part of your comment. There is no doubt that the drug trade is an issue, not just in Honduras but in Central America. I don't know if your previous witnesses have talked about this, but Honduras has weak institutions. Whether on the