Rose pursuant to notice of December 11, 2019:

That he will call the attention of the Senate to the abuse of human rights and democratic freedoms in Hong Kong.

He said: Honourable senators, this is an inquiry on the human rights abuses in Hong Kong. It’s my first opportunity to speak about this inquiry, and I’m hoping that a number of senators will have the opportunity to talk about this in order to build up support for the people of Hong Kong.

I would like to start by acknowledging the suffering of all persons affected by the coronavirus in this country, in China and around the world. My sympathies and prayers are with them and their families.

Honourable senators, I am lucky enough to have the freedom and choice to speak on my inquiry in this chamber. I can speak today without fear — no fear of retribution, punishment or retaliation — for expressing my thoughts or the facts. These are everyday fears for people in Hong Kong. Students and professionals, parents and children, and sisters and brothers suffer daily abuses of human rights and democratic freedoms in Hong Kong.

In 1988, I was in Hong Kong for a very happy reason: the birth of my son, Claude Mathieu, while I was CTV’s bureau chief in Beijing. At that time, people were living in trepidation. People were leaving Hong Kong, but they really wanted to stay because Hong Kong was their home. But people were leaving — and it wasn’t a trickle — in anticipation of its handover to China from the United Kingdom. They fled due to fears of losing human rights and the rule of law.

This immigration was further fuelled by what I witnessed a year later — and I don’t need to go into the details of what was the massacre at Tiananmen Square. I have seen what abuses a government will inflict on its innocent citizens, what they do when they don’t fall in line and when they fight for the democratic freedoms each of us in this chamber enjoy every day.

As we know, in 1977, the territory was handed over with a guarantee of Hong Kong having separate political and economic systems than those of mainland China under the “one country, two systems” principle.

For a while, it really seemed that it was working. Fast forward to June 2019, and history is repeating itself. Pro-democratic protests started due to serious long-term and ongoing transgressions to freedoms of religion, speech and democratic rights in Hong Kong, including the introduction of the extradition bill proposed by Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam in February just a year ago, in 2019. The bill would have allowed extraditions to mainland China and was viewed as an intentional move by Beijing to erode freedoms.

Finally, it was formally withdrawn eight months later in September, but the damage was done. Too many people had been arrested for their public opposition to the bill and had suffered at the hands of police brutality over the months of protests.

The protesters continued their demands, which are quite straightforward. You have heard them, but they bear repeating here: democratic reforms and universal suffrage, an independent inquiry into police brutality and amnesty for protest-related offences. Senators, these are simple, reasonable and fair demands. They are so commonplace for us that we barely give them a second thought. Our biggest barriers to elections access in this country are either voter apathy or bad weather.

So while this is a reminder to be grateful for what we have, it is also a call to action for us to support these rights around the world. According to Hong Kong Watch, based in the U.K., more than 7,000 protesters have been arrested since last June. Of those, almost 1,100 have had their cases brought to court and have been charged. About 550 have been charged with rioting, with only 12 sentenced. The sentencing for rioting can be up to 10 years in prison.

It is estimated that 40% of the arrested protesters are secondary school and university students. We know — we have seen the pictures — that children have been arrested too. The youngest person convicted in the protests so far is 12 years old.

While protests can often lead to vandalism and violence by a minority of those present, there is no excuse for the extreme police brutality that is taking place. The excessive violence by the Hong Kong police has led to a collapse of trust. The majority of the Hong Kong public support the protesters. In fact, 1 million people, or roughly 15% of its population, joined in the New Year’s Day rally in support of the demands I mentioned earlier. I remind you that these demands are as simple as democratic freedoms and the right to fair votes, as well as an inquiry into police brutality.

It has been reported, honourable senators, that during crowd control responses, the police have shot rubber bullets into the faces of protesters and used thousands of rounds of tear gas and excessive force. There are scenes of people, even children, being severely beaten with batons and fists during arrests. Once in detention, there have been reports of denied access to medical attention and legal counsel, as well as reports of torture, sexual violence and unlawful strip searches.

Amnesty International is demanding a prompt and independent investigation into violations. They said this in September:

The evidence leaves little room for doubt – in an apparent thirst for retaliation, Hong Kong’s security forces have engaged in a disturbing pattern of reckless and unlawful tactics against people during the protests. This has included arbitrary arrests and retaliatory violence against arrested persons in custody, some of which has amounted to torture.

Additionally, in more than 85% of cases investigated by Amnesty International, the arrested person was hospitalized as a result of their beating by police.

Honourable senators, these events come close to home for me, and they should come close to home for you because you have probably been visited by those who walk the streets of Hong Kong and have participated in these protests. Sadly for me, I know one of the men who is now in jail, Edward Leung. I want you to remember this name.

I met Edward in June 2017 in my Centre Block office on Parliament Hill. He was a charismatic, soft-spoken and kind person. He had a suit on. He looked like most of us. He talked about how much he treasured the Canadian values of human rights, equality, democracy and multiculturalism. He expressed his gratitude and honour in meeting our Canadian veterans a few years ago at a Battle of Hong Kong commemoration ceremony. It moved him. It moved me when he talked about it. I had an uncle who served in that part of the world in the Second World War.

As is often the case and as he wanted to have done, we took a photo together for Twitter and promised to keep working towards our common goals. Edward returned to Hong Kong and continued to be widely supported for his democratic leadership and commitment to rights and freedoms.

Edward Leung, as I said, is now in jail. He was sentenced to six years in prison in 2018 for his participation in the demonstrations and for his public support of democracy and independence.

Senators, I was updated on Edward’s well-being yesterday, and I was extremely upset to learn that, earlier this month, he was moved to a Category A maximum security prison, which is reserved for the most dangerous offenders. This is no place for a non-violent pro-democratic activist.

Edward’s life story, political work and his involvement in the Mong Kok protests in 2016 are detailed in the documentary Lost in the Fumes. TIME Magazine noted the film should be essential viewing for participants of the most recent protests, and they recognized Edward on their list of 100 next rising stars expected to shape the future.

As the situation in Hong Kong continues, I often think of Edward and his family, and I send them strength and support from the Senate of Canada. I hope you do too. I hope you send strength and support to all those who are behind bars in Hong Kong. They don’t deserve to be there. Hong Kong is part of the fabric of this country, 500,000 of whom live here now. They are Canada as Canada is Canada, and we can never, ever forget that.

Colleagues, it is not only Hong Kong citizens who are being censored and abused. Press freedoms — something I’m familiar with after being thrown in jail a few times in China during my work there — are also being denied. Many journalists have reported being harassed and intimidated by the Hong Kong police force because of their coverage or attempts to cover the protest. Tear gas and rubber bullets have been aimed at journalists. The police have obstructed videos and pictures by shining lights into cameras, this even though journalists are easily identifiable with yellow vests, helmets and visible press identification.

The harassment doesn’t seem to stop. There is now a form of self-censorship in bookstores and different places in Hong Kong. You are in trouble if you have printed or are trying to publish or sell a book that has anything to do with the government in China.

As you know, three journalists from The Wall Street Journal were expelled from Beijing in February for an opinion piece that they published, and now it’s being reported that appropriate visa renewals are becoming difficult to obtain for foreign correspondents.

Honourable senators, history is repeating itself. We cannot sit back and watch this happen. Journalism plays a crucial role around the world. When journalists face censorship and barriers to reporting their stories anywhere, it is a threat to press freedoms everywhere.

The last Governor of Hong Kong, Lord Chris Patten, said at a lecture last month:

Around the world, liberal democracies have to stand up for themselves if their system of governance and the rule of law are to survive as the heartbeat of international politics in the century ahead. What a struggle there is in Hong Kong, a struggle in which we all have a vital stake. What happens there will affect us all. Depend on it. The defence of Hong Kong’s values by its brave citizens is ours too.

It seems like the protests have been less active in the last few months, but that is only because of efforts to contain the coronavirus. As in Canada, this virus has created public concerns and reclusion.

The people of Hong Kong want the world to know they are not backing down. They still fear police retaliation and daily threats to free speech and democracy. They fear that China is abandoning the one country, two systems principle. Not even halfway to 50 years. I think it’s around halfway. They want you to know they still need our attention.

As policy makers, we need to use our positions and influence to help people who are suffering. As such, a parliamentary friends of Hong Kong group will be formed in the coming weeks, and I encourage senators with a like-mindedness about human rights to join. I also invite you to participate in this inquiry and to support Senator Housakos’s motion to have the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee examine and report on the situation and to speak out on social media about human rights violations and abuses happening in that great and wonderful place of Hong Kong. Hong Kong, my son’s home.

Finally, I want to thank people across the world who are using their voices to support democratic rights and to stand up for press freedoms. We hear you and we support you.

He has a minute and a half left.

Yes.

If I had the answer to that question, there would be peace in Hong Kong today.

What happened is that the government in Beijing did not live up to its word with the United Kingdom and with the people of Hong Kong to abide by those principles of one country, two systems. There was an opportunity here and a breath of fresh air with so many reforms taking place in Beijing and mainland China with Deng Xiaoping and with what they called socialism with Chinese capitalist characteristics, something along those lines. There was an opening taking place.

At some point in time we have to take a country at its word. The Beijing government did not live up to its word.