Ottawa, ON – The Hon. Erin O’Toole, Leader of Canada’s Conservatives and the Official Opposition, issued the following statement regarding the Government of Canada’s imposition of sanctions against four officials and one entity in China in response to human rights violations against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims:
 
“While Conservatives are encouraged that the Trudeau government is finally working with our allies and imposing sanctions on officials responsible for human rights violations, the Trudeau government still refuses to call the atrocities committed against the Uyghurs a genocide.
 
“It’s clear that the ‘mass detention in internment camps, forced sterilisations, and the concerted destruction of Uyghur heritage’ that Minister Garneau referenced in his statement constitutes a genocide.
 
“The Trudeau Liberals can no longer ignore the evidence. Bodies including the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, and independent investigations that include former Liberal cabinet minister have concluded that the Chinese Communist regime’s treatment of Uyghurs is a genocide.
 
“Now, Conservatives are once again calling on the Trudeau government to follow Parliament’s lead by recognizing the Uyghur genocide, working to encourage other allies to do the same, and by putting in place new, more effective measures to ban imports produced with forced Uyghur labour.
 
“At a time when the Chinese Communist Party is still illegally and arbitrarily detaining Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, the Prime Minister must abandon his naïve approach to the Chinese Communist regime.”
 

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For more information:
 
Chelsea Tucker
Chelsea.Tucker@parl.gc.ca
613-219-3790
 
Axel Rioux
Axel.Rioux@parl.gc.ca
613-291-7125