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House Hansard - 116

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 24, 2022 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 116 - Oct/24/22
Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)
  • Oct/24/22 8:21:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it has been a pleasure working with my friend opposite on the Tibet friendship group, and I thank him for speaking to the motion today. The motion identifies the fact that Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims face an ongoing genocide. The member quite eloquently, especially in the final minutes of his speech, made precisely the case for that genocide recognition. There was a motion in this House a year and a half ago on which the government, speaking not of the entire Liberal caucus but the government, chose to abstain. At the time, the government said it was studying the issue. A lot has happened in the last year and a half. The member mentioned the UN human rights commissioner's report as well, which is new since the House of Commons motion. Could he clarify, if he is able to, the position of his government on this motion and, flowing from that, whether the position of the Government of Canada today is that Uighurs are subject to an ongoing genocide?
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Context: House Hansard - 116 - Oct/24/22
Mr. Arif Virani
  • Oct/24/22 8:23:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan for his comments today and on many days on this issue, among others exposing international human rights violations. In terms of the motion that was before this chamber, the member opposite knows that I voted very much in favour of that motion. The position of cabinet was as displayed, in terms of the vote that was taken. I will say to him quite candidly that as the days go by, as we see what the People's Republic of China is doing as a government and what President Xi is doing as a leader in terms of entrenching himself in perpetuity, it would seem, I think people, parliamentarians and elected governments around the planet are really taking note of what is at stake. What is at stake is really a strident China that is threatening a region and threatening a planet in terms of a lot of its practices. Those extend to Uighur rights and also to the rights of Taiwanese, Hong Kongers, folks from Tibet and people who would seek to defend or assert their rights within the context of China and just assert simple, basic religious and racial rights and freedoms. That is what everyone is taking note of.
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