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Results: 106 - 120 of 185
View Gord Johns Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I first want to begin by highlighting the Globe and Mail article from October 2020. In it, Dr. Miller-Saunders, you say that you were told by your managers that your statements were your opinion and not those of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
My first question is for Ms. Reid and Mr. Parsons. Can you assure us that Dr. Miller-Saunders is free to speak today without any repercussions from the department?
Rebecca Reid
View Rebecca Reid Profile
Rebecca Reid
2021-04-26 16:10
Thank you, Mr. Johns.
We've said to each of the witnesses that we're asking them to speak to their area of expertise, and they are absolutely free to do so within that area of expertise.
Thank you.
Brian Wong
View Brian Wong Profile
Brian Wong
2021-02-01 16:32
Thank you for the opportunity to share our presentation on behalf of the Mustard Seeds Hong Kong Concern Group. I am Reverend Brian Wong. Our group is concerned with Hong Kong and has multi-denominational Christian members.
I would like to comment on the Canadian government's new immigration measures in response to the deterioration of human rights in Hong Kong under the national security law. This is a very encouraging start, showing Canada's commitment to protect the safety of the Hong Kong people, who share the same core values as we do, as well as the 300,000 Canadians residing in Hong Kong.
Given the unprecedented mass arrests of pro-democracy activists on all fronts since the imposition of the national security law and the diversity of Hong Kong participants in the pro-democracy movement in terms of age groups and professional and educational backgrounds, Canada needs to come up with a more inclusive policy to accommodate the needs of a broad spectrum of Hong Kong people under risk of political persecution. Our core objective is to save the lives of Hong Kong people based on the level of their risk of political persecution, not just the age, educational or professional background, or the socio-economic status of the applicants. Immigration measures should apply to prioritized categories in accordance with the level of political persecution.
First, prioritized categories should include high-risk activists whose passports have been confiscated and Canadian residents or citizens who were forced to surrender their Canadian status when they ran for office in the Legislative Council or the District Court council. Apart from the pro-democracy activists, it looks like certain sectors have been the targets of crackdowns by the Hong Kong SAR government. These include social workers, journalists, teachers, medical workers and pastors.
For these categories of people under high risk of political persecution, we urge the government to offer them special travel documents to allow them to depart from Hong Kong at the earliest possible time before they are arrested, convicted and imprisoned. We should also consider offering them the “essential traveller” status under coronavirus pandemic guidelines to allow them to cross the Canadian border under the above special circumstances.
With the restrictive implementation of the nationality law in Hong Kong, BNO passport and Canadian passport holders have been denied the right to exit from Hong Kong unless they officially surrender their Chinese nationality. We urge the government to follow up on the impact of the nationality law on the status of the 300,000 Canadians in Hong Kong, as well as the 200,000-plus Canadians who have been residing in Hong Kong without claiming non-resident status. We wonder how the Canadian government could provide consular protection to them in case of need.
Second, the applications of Hong Kongers who are currently in Canada seeking political asylum should be processed in an expedited manner, with a pathway to permanent resident status.
Third, Hong Kongers studying or working in Canada who will be subject to political persecution when they return to Hong Kong because of their involvement in the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement in Canada should be offered a five-year visa with an expedited pathway to permanent resident status.
For Hong Kongers—
View Marci Ien Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Marci Ien Profile
2021-01-29 14:21
Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chan, Mr. Dinsdale and Ms. Curran, thank you so much for joining us.
I want to delve a little further into something that my colleagues have addressed today. On a day where we commemorate six lives lost in a Quebec City mosque, in a week where through International Holocaust Remembrance Day we observe the lives lost, and a year where we have seen anti-Black racism at the fore, I want to ask a bit more about hate speech and understand how Facebook delineates between hate speech and freedom of speech.
Kevin Chan
View Kevin Chan Profile
Kevin Chan
2021-01-29 14:22
I think you've hit the nail on the head. This is perhaps the hardest one for us. That is because speech is nuanced, so we do want to make sure we take a nuanced approach, that we don't overcensor people. Obviously the way we look at it is if there is speech that is directed at a particular group, that is an attack on a particular group, whether by race or by sexual orientation, for example, then those things would be prohibited by our community standards.
I would also say, though, what we've discovered as we work through these issues is that in fact, depending which community you're talking about and what the local contexts are, sometimes people might actually use code words, or even emoticons, to represent something. It would be a slur if we knew it were a slur, but it actually is known in the local community, not more broadly to the public. That's the real challenge. The work we're undertaking now is to work with local partners to better understand what are the kinds of specific words in specific communities that are equally damaging, hurtful and hateful and try to remove those.
One example, I can tell you, is the word spelled S-Q-U-A-W, which is a word that's used in a derogatory manner to attack indigenous women. That is one of the words that we have through our consultations picked up and used to refine our list of slurs so that we can more properly enforce our community standards in Canada.
View Anita Vandenbeld Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you very much, and I want to thank you for being here, Mr. Imahiagbe. I understand that you are actually a teacher at a school in my riding of Ottawa West-Nepean at St. Paul's. I wanted to thank you again for the work you do there and also for being here as a witness.
I heard your testimony. You talked about systemic problems, about institutional overhaul. Our understanding from the previous witnesses is that there's been a real deterioration since the 20th of October, since the protesters were so violently repressed and we were starting to see more arrests.
Could you say that the situation is deteriorating at the moment in terms of freedom of expression, in terms of civil society and human rights defenders? If there's been a real deterioration recently, what can be done immediately to try to bring that public space back so that those institutions can then be, as you put it, overhauled?
Chukwuyem Imahiagbe
View Chukwuyem Imahiagbe Profile
Chukwuyem Imahiagbe
2020-11-19 18:48
Thank you very much for that question.
Yes, I'm a vice-principal at St. Paul, within your riding.
Since the incident of the shooting, there has been an escalated attempt to forcibly arrest and detain those who are seen as leaders of the protest, and in some places, as I said earlier, to freeze their bank accounts.
An atmosphere of fear has been created, and most of the leaders have gone into hiding. Some of them have fled the country in order to save themselves, because they need to be alive to be able to push for change to happen.
What can be done? An immediate response from peace-loving countries like Canada is urgently needed to put pressure on the Government of Nigeria. The response to peaceful protesters asking for change, asking for better governance, is not to perpetuate more violence against those who have put their lives at risk to call for change in the country.
View Anita Vandenbeld Profile
Lib. (ON)
To what extent do social media play a role in this?
I know that there's an “end SARS” hashtag, and there are certain videos about what the government has done that have gone viral.
Is there a role for social media in amplifying those voices and for communicating, and to what extent is there freedom within Nigeria for people to be able to spread this information through social media?
Chukwuyem Imahiagbe
View Chukwuyem Imahiagbe Profile
Chukwuyem Imahiagbe
2020-11-19 18:49
As far as I know, social media have played a significant role in helping bring to light the reality of what is happening in Nigeria, but there have been TV news clips of the Minister of Information looking at how social media can be banned or gagged in Nigeria.
This is in line with what we have always seen when citizens call for better governance. There's always a clamp-down to create an atmosphere of fear so that when they get on their own, then the movement is squashed. That is the tactic that we're continuing to see, sadly. We hope that the international community can quickly put out strong statements and actions to remind the government of its commitment to human rights.
To add to that, Nigeria is a signatory of the African Charter on Human Rights and People's Rights, and also of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which places obligations on Nigeria to not only promote but protect human rights in Nigeria. A strong reminder and the consequences of not following through on those commitments, I think, would be a very good start.
View Lenore Zann Profile
Lib. (NS)
Thank you very much.
Thank you all so much for being here. This is a very serious issue, and it's very concerning, about democracy, really, around the world.
I watched a television interview recently with the Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai. He had tears in his eyes as he was talking about his love for his country and also his fears about possibly being arrested, but he said he had to say what he had to say because he was dedicated to the truth and making sure that the truth gets out. My heart is with him and with his family. He said he has some family members here in Canada. I'm truly concerned for him and for all other journalists who are being arrested and who are in a state of chill right now in Hong Kong. Several other pro-democracy supporters were also arrested when he was, and the Apple Daily's offices were apparently searched by as many as 200 police officers.
My question is this: Is there any particular timing on this? Were they looking for anything in particular, do you think? How should the international community, including Canada, respond to the arrest of media representatives and student leaders in Hong Kong?
Who would like to respond to that? Would you, Mr. Davis?
Michael C. Davis
View Michael C. Davis Profile
Michael C. Davis
2020-08-13 11:48
Yes, I'd be happy to.
I think, of course, the searching of the newsroom was a fishing expedition. I've been told that they're doing a case approach, so the case that explains a lot of the arrests so far is really important to Canada and the United States because it's the case against people who have formed organizations abroad to support Hong Kong.
One of those organizations is called Stand with Hong Kong. Another one is the Hong Kong Democracy Council. I think your hearings will include a member of that council who's already the target of an arrest warrant for basically lobbying his own Congress, the U.S. Congress. He's an American citizen, Samuel Chu, and his work with the Hong Kong Democracy Council was essentially to lobby Congress for the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act.
What we're doing right now in this hearing could wind up getting arrest warrants for all of us, because under that law, which extends globally, one of the things they target is the seeking of sanctions against China or Hong Kong by a foreign government. Lobbying to get sanctions...and the questions and answers we're having today might be interpreted accordingly, or even if we say things today that might cause people to hate China, then we also run afoul of that law. This hearing is very much in the target of that.
What I think they're doing now is using these cases, so I'm expecting more and more targeting of people who have these organizations abroad that are seeking sanctions and people who testify abroad.
Jimmy Lai was apparently a long shot in this, but he's been a target for them for many years, as they would view him as a great sinner. His only sin, apparently, was allegedly providing funding for organizations that lobby governments and parliaments such as yours.
These are things that are basic freedoms that people, even lobbying their own government, are going to be charged with, serious crimes where the punishment is three years to life in prison. This is what's going on.
View Lenore Zann Profile
Lib. (NS)
This is for any of you. When you see the news, you see people on the streets of China interviewed, and they say, “No, this is fine. It's to protect China and to protect our society so that we're all one.” Can any of you speak to that and how the people in mainland China are receiving a certain type of news or getting mixed news? Or are they only getting state news that is telling them one thing?
Cheuk Kwan
View Cheuk Kwan Profile
Cheuk Kwan
2020-08-13 11:52
I believe that, as of July 1, the Hong Kong people have it worse than the Chinese citizens in mainland China. This is an anecdote, but this is something very true. In the past, I have not seen as much censorship and self-censorship imposed on Chinese citizens as we can see in Hong Kong. I think this is a grave situation that we need to worry about. In my mind, China doesn't care. China will sacrifice Hong Kong. What's six million people when Mao or Deng Xiaoping once said, “What's a million peopled killed in a famine? We have a hundred billion”, or whatever it may be.
In this case, I think the callous attitude that China has right now for Hong Kong is equivalent to what they are doing in East Turkestan, in Xinjiang, as well as in Tibet. It almost approaches a cultural genocide.
Samuel M. Chu
View Samuel M. Chu Profile
Samuel M. Chu
2020-08-13 12:49
Thank you, Chair and committee, for having me.
I am the managing director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council, HKDC, based in Washington, D.C. We are the first U.S.-based organization advocating on behalf of Hong Kong's autonomy and basic freedoms that is led by U.S. citizens. Our mission is focused on influencing and informing U.S. policy towards Hong Kong and China.
I want to make that clear up front, because on July 30, I went to bed and woke up the next morning with notification and media reports that I am now a wanted felon, or at least a wanted fugitive. Chinese media leaked a report on July 30 that the Hong Kong authorities and police have issued arrest warrants for six pro-democracy activists who are promoting democracy in Hong Kong but are currently overseas. I am one of the six, and the charges are for incitement of secession and collusion with foreign powers. This was part of the national security law that was concocted by Beijing in secret and then rolled out on July 1 and implemented at the same time it was made public for the first time. Both of the crimes that I am allegedly accused of are punishable by life in prison.
I am different from the others on the list and others who have experienced and encountered harassment and arrests in Hong Kong since implementation of the law. I have been an American citizen for 25 years. I left Hong Kong and arrived in Los Angeles, California, in 1990. However, the national security law in article 38 states the following specifically: This Law shall apply to offences under this Law committed against the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region from outside the Region by a person who is not a permanent resident of the Region.
In other words, every provision of the national security law applies to everyone outside of Hong Kong. Nobody is beyond the law's reach, not me as a U.S. citizen on American soil, not the 85,000 Americans who are living and working in Hong Kong, and not the estimated 200,000 to 250,000 Canadian citizens who are living and working in Hong Kong itself.
My surprising status as an international fugitive illustrates the imminent threat to freedom and free expression that not only Hong Kong pro-democracy activists are experiencing and have been experiencing, but also that we have been warning over the past year is coming to not just American soil but Canadian soil.
Since the implementation of the national security law, we have already seen the direct impact it has had on crackdowns in Hong Kong, specifically with regard to the rights of free speech, free press, free assembly and protest. The first arrest made under the national security law in Hong Kong was of a young person who was wearing a T-shirt that said “Free Hong Kong”. The authorities also targeted a 19-year-old protester whose crime was having a sticker on the back of his phone that simply had the word “conscience” written in Chinese.
In the following days, the government disqualified 12 separate pro-democracy candidates from the LegCo election, which the government eventually postponed for a year. Benny Tai, a professor, who was a co-founder with my father of the umbrella movement in 2014, was ousted from his job as a tenured professor at Hong Kong University. Four young protesters were arrested for posting online that the government claims were inciting secession. Schools have now banned the use of slogans and the singing of the protest anthem Glory to Hong Kong in all schools.
As the assault on basic freedoms has been happening, as Ms. Boyajian pointed out, Americans, Canadians and folks in western countries have been watching from afar, from a safe distance, with solidarity through social media and our solidarity protests and rallies. But now, as my experience has shown, you don't have to be in Hong Kong to be in trouble with the Chinese regime and the Hong Kong government. Simply tweeting or re-tweeting someone else's tweet could earn you an arrest warrant and a prison sentence.
Article 38 as written can seem very outlandish, impractical and unenforceable. Its impact is not just in what it can or cannot do legally, but is designed to create a chilling effect that essentially threatens and tries to implicate anyone and everyone who is not just directly speaking out for Hong Kong, but is also connected to people who are speaking out to Hong Kong.
In my case, for example, I can no longer travel to Hong Kong or any countries with any active extradition treaties with Hong Kong or China, or any countries that have friendly relations with China, without risking arrest and almost certain extradition to the mainland. I cannot speak to my elderly parents in Hong Kong without opening them up to, and subjecting them to, investigation and invasive searches by the police. Even anyone who is in contact with me here and who is not in Hong Kong could be blacklisted by the Chinese government or by Chinese-backed financial interests, whose influence is vast, extending from Hollywood to the NBA, Apple and Zoom, which we are using right now for this meeting.
I might be the first to be targeted as a foreign citizen under the national security law, but I will not be the last, because if I can be a target, then anyone who speaks on behalf of Hong Kong, who speaks out against the CCP, can also be targeted.
As I said in my introduction, I am a second-generation pro-democracy advocate. Only about 18 months ago, I was in Hong Kong attending the trial of my father, the Reverend Chu Yiu Ming, who was arrested and then charged for his role in “inciting the protests of the 2014 umbrella movement”. He, along with eight others, was convicted of the charges. He was sentenced to two years and, fortunately, because of his age and health problems, his sentence was suspended. This has been happening and will continue to escalate more quickly and more broadly.
My father supported the student movement in Tiananmen Square in 1989 and helped to build the underground railroad that smuggled dissidents out of China into western countries. I was sent away in consideration of the anticipated risk involved in building those operations and being a part of that movement.
That crackdown has happened every day since June 4, 1989. It has been spreading rapidly in Hong Kong since July 1. Two weeks ago, it spread to American soil and it will soon be, and already is, on Canadian soil.
Human rights may not have been a priority in U.S. policies toward China a year ago, but you can be assured that human rights, along with the control and violation of human rights, is the top priority of the Chinese regime. I say this because without it, they will lose control of their government and lose the control they are trying so hard to implement, not just on the mainland and in Xinjiang and Tibet, but also in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and now in western nations.
Thank you for allowing me to speak today.
View John Williamson Profile
CPC (NB)
Mr. Chu, I'm going to make a few statements [Technical difficulty--Editor].
In your opinion, have I now violated China/Beijing's, national security law, making me a potential problem for the PRC?
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