44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 21, 2022
- 04:06:29 p.m.
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Thank you, Mr. Chair.
As I signalled at the beginning, I want to use the first minute of my time to provide a notice of motion regarding an urgent and deeply concerning situation related to Iran. This notice of motion is as follows:
That given recent reports of threats to lives of individuals in Canada from the Iranian regime, the ongoing freedom movement in Iran and the killing of dozens of Canadians by the regime including the shooting down of flight PS 752, and pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study of the threat to Canadians from the Iranian regime and how the Government of Canada should respond; that the committee invite the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Public Safety, the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to testify as part of this study; and, that the committee seeks to hear from these officials prior to Friday, December 16, 2022.
That is the notice of motion, Mr. Chair.
I think, given what all members would understand to be the urgency and sensitivity of the situation, and that the calendar seems to be more fluid than we thought it was anyway, this motion would be worth discussing as soon as possible. We would propose that it be considered for discussion on Wednesday.
I'll now turn back to the witnesses. Thank you so much for being here.
I want to start by asking our friends from the NCCM whether there are different models proposed for what some would call a regionalized approach to responding to forced and child labour—recognizing that there are specific situations, especially in the case of East Turkestan, where forced labour is not something that happens in the shadows. It's actually being organized and coordinated centrally by the state as part of a genocide, which is very different from some of the other kinds of forced labour we see in other parts of the world.
You mentioned the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in the United States and other cases of targeted legislative instruments. I very much agree with you that Parliament needs to act on this. We have Bill S-204 from Senator Housakos, which would ban goods coming from East Turkestan. We could do what the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act does and provide a reverse onus, where no goods come in unless there's proof that no forced or child labour was involved.
Could you speak to why you think it's important to have a regionalized approach as part of our response to forced and child labour? Why is it not good enough having the same piece of legislation apply to the whole world? Why do we need to specifically, either in legislation or regulation, name regions and respond to the particularities of those situations?
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- 05:08:38 p.m.
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Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd be pleased to ask the RRSE representative some questions, but I'd like to give notice of a motion first.
The motion is this:
That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the chair be instructed to schedule the first meeting of the study on women's sexual and reproductive health and rights no later than Monday, December 5, 2022.
I give notice of the motion. I am not moving the motion at this time, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for your opening remarks, Ms. Chipot. I really liked how you expressed your concerns. You made it very clear that reporting isn't enough, and I quite agree with you.
You mentioned the examples of France and Germany, which have due diligence mechanisms. Should we focus more on such mechanisms?
If so, can you give us an idea of which organizations would be covered by the due diligence requirement? Are we talking about using the same definition as Germany? What would you suggest to our committee?
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- 05:27:21 p.m.
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On a point of order, Chair, based on the offer from Mr. Sheehan, is there unanimous agreement for the committee to have the minister on Monday? I suspect that there would be, but we should clearly delineate that.
Some hon. members: Agreed.
Mr. Garnett Genuis: Thank you.
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- 05:30:23 p.m.
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On that note, allow me to thank all four of our witnesses. Your testimony was invaluable and we're very grateful. Thank you, Ms. Dwyer, Ms. Akter, Ms. Chipot, and Ms. Hotchkiss.
You can leave as you wish.
Before adjourning, if I may, there are several things I wanted to bring to your attention. There were three budgets that have been submitted by SDIR, the subcommittee on human rights.
Is it the will of the committee to adopt the three?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
The Chair: Thank you. That was the first thing.
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- 05:31:18 p.m.
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Could I ask for an update on our travel?
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- 05:31:24 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, a detailed budget is being prepared regarding your travel. It has to be submitted definitely by December 2, and it will be presented to you on Wednesday of this week.
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- 05:31:40 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, on that item, can we deal with the budget concerning the travel of this committee at the beginning of Wednesday's meeting? I ask to set aside the first five minutes for the consideration of the budget concerning the travel of this committee.
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- 05:32:05 p.m.
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Sure, that sounds reasonable. Is everyone in agreement?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
The Chair: Yes, we'll do that.
Hon. Michael Chong: Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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- 05:32:10 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I think we could leave you the discretion to figure out when we can discuss this. I think all committee members are interested in having the discussion.
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- 05:32:19 p.m.
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Absolutely. It's understood.
That was the first thing.
Second, is it the will of the committee that the clerk make the necessary hospitality arrangements for an informal joint meeting with the Standing Committee on National Defence—in a few minutes—with the President of Estonia?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
The Chair: Excellent. That's unanimous consent.
Finally, the committee will meet on Wednesday, November 23. The notice has already been published.
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