Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure for me to be here today to speak to Motion No. 382. I want to congratulate the member for Lambton—Kent—Middlesex for having the courage to bring this forward and for his great leadership on this issue and also the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs for his work and commitment on the issue as well.

I would also like to take a moment to thank my staff member, Joycelin Ng, for the work she has done on this issue, in particular, and on other issues dealing with religious persecution as well. I want to acknowledge her great work on this.

As others have said in the House, I do support the motion. I see this as a seminal document, a seminal declaration by this Parliament. It is past the time that it should have been brought forward, and I appreciate the fact that we are able to discuss this now.

The real issue on this topic is actually the fundamental right that people around the world should have. That is the right to choose what they believe, the right to speak about that belief and the right to change that belief if they so choose. That is really what is encapsulated in the beginning of this motion and what we want to reinforce today, because an increasing number of citizens around the world are under attack simply for their religious beliefs.

Governments around the world continue to repress religious freedom, but it is the right to choose, the right to believe and the right to change belief that needs to extend to every individual in every community and country.

As the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has said, it is a basic tenet of humanity, a moral, ethical and legal duty. For many around the world, Canada can really provide leadership to protect this fundamental human right.

The reality is that religious minorities around the world are constantly harassed. They are arrested and imprisoned.

I would like to acknowledge my colleague in the NDP and thank him for his enthusiastic support for the motion. We are glad to see that. He pointed out that the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has reported that 75% of the world's population, as of mid-2010, live in countries where governments, social groups or individuals restrict people's ability to freely practise their faith.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom lists, in particular, countries such as Burma, North Korea, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and a few other countries as countries of particular concern where religious persecution is most severe.

It is obvious that the motion is necessary, despite the protections of religious freedom in international rights law. We talked a little about article 18 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and every country has signed on to that, as obligated, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Religious minorities still continue to face a global crisis of persecution. Individual countries, such as Canada, where this is not a big issue for our people, should do their part in recognizing religious freedoms in their foreign policy and promote those values abroad.

Just to address the concerns that my colleague from the Liberals has, what we are doing here does not in any way take away from the defence of other rights. Our Minister of Foreign Affairs has been very vocal about those rights. Our Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs has stepped up to defend those rights. We have been clear on that. I would like to think that the members opposite would see this as a declaration that complements our position on the other rights, not restricts it. That is how it was intended by the author of the declaration, the member for Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, who has brought it forward.

Successful passing of the motion would ensure that our commitment to human rights and democracy, for which we are known around the world, includes the basic right and freedom of religion and that it would become a mainstay of foreign policy in years to come. We think that is a good commitment to make.

A parliamentary motion outlining this commitment sends a message to the international community that we condemn all acts of violence against religious groups and are coordinating efforts to protect and promote the fundamental right to choose to believe and to change beliefs.

To address the concern that the member opposite from the NDP raised, we are not talking about sending the UN into countries when we are talking about protecting. We do want protection and that should be extended. Governments should understand that they need to extend that to their rights, but we want to see that done consistently and effectively.

The motion puts Canada on the international stage with like-minded countries. We are working together with other nations, multilaterally, that can strengthen the international capacity within the United Nations, OSCE, the IPU and other monitoring bodies such as the European Union, Council of Europe, Organization of American States and entities like that.

I would like to point out that in researching for the motion, it became evident that some other countries have led the way in this. The United States, for example, in 1998 passed a bill, the international religious freedom act, which led to the creation of the Office of International Religious Freedom. It made the U.S. one of the first to officially recognize the protection of religious freedoms as a foreign policy objective. It also established, at that time, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.

In 2010 the German Bundestag passed a bill that served to establish religious freedom as a human rights priority in the German Bundestag. That was a resolution, not a bill, but it expressed its resolve toward a number of issue areas, including its opposition to laws that used defamation of religion, and we see that in the motion before us today. It continues to take a stand on religious freedom issues, even as recently as defending the rights of Jews and Muslims and their right to practise religious circumcision, which is an issue that has been somewhat in the news.

The European Parliament has passed a number of resolutions dealing with religious freedom. The resolution on the situation of Christians, passed in 2011, recognized that the majority of acts of violence were perpetrated against Christians and recommended ways in which an EU strategy could enforce religious freedom for Christians and other faith groups around the world.

The United Kingdom has what is called a freedom of religion or belief toolkit, which is interesting way. It outlines ways foreign officials can assess religious violations in their assigned countries.

Norway has what is called the Oslo coalition on freedom, religion or belief, which has been in operation since 1998 and was established by its ministry of foreign affairs.

We see this is not something that is new around the world. Canada is taking its place as a leader, as one of the leading nations that is doing this, but it is not something that is brand new either.

I would like to talk a bit about my own personal commitment to this. We heard Shahbaz Bhatti's name mentioned a couple of times in the House today. In 2011, I had the chance to meet him for about 20 minutes before I went to listen to his presentation at the subcommittee on human rights the next day. He knew full well that if he went back to his country, he would probably be assassinated because of the courageous stand and leadership that he had shown. It was only about three weeks after he was here that he was in fact assassinated as he drove down the driveway of his mother's house. I think not only myself but a number of people in the House have been energized by his commitment and by the great leadership he showed.

We have hosted some forums on religious freedoms. Members of the House have come to those and we have seen the benefits of being able to be part of that.

I want to point out Motion No. 382 could establish credibility among advocacy groups, organization and faith groups, the very groups that are most familiar with these issues of religious freedom. It would give our country credibility internationally on the issue of protecting freedom of religion. The establishment of the Office of Religious Freedom is a commendable step toward defining Canada as one of the few distinguished nations willing to recognize religious freedom as a foreign policy priority.

I would like to point out that I believe a successful motion passed by the Parliament of Canada, and it sounds like we will be able to have that, will ensure that the steps taken by our Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade have the broad majority support of Parliament and that will ensure religious freedom becomes a mainstay of foreign policy for future years.

We have looked to other nations and seen what they have done. We believe Canada can be a leader in this issue as well. I want to thank the member for bringing this forward. As we pass this, we will be able to share around the world Canada's commitment to the issue of religious freedom.

David Anderson

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