QUESTION PERIOD — Foreign Affairs
Canada-China Relations
June 29, 2021
Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate, Senator Gold.
Senator, it has been over 900 days in a gulag for two men while we, at times, use their names to support our points of view on how to handle China. They must feel very gratified that we do this.
I will ask again: Do we have any information on the two Michaels’ mental and physical shape and their access to medical or any other treatment as they sit inside a prison while their counterpart in Canada waves at the crowd, choreographed and smiling?
Thank you for your question and for raising the plight of our citizens.
I can only tell this chamber that all efforts continue to be made. We’re working closely with our allies directly and as best we can to get information about their condition and, more importantly, to secure their release.
Senator Gold, you know that we’ve been through a crisis here in Canada and we’ve been disparaged quite a bit in the last few years, but Canada is the only country that the two Michaels have. They do not have another country, allied or not.
Will there be any updates during the summer about what is going on once the Senate rises? Parliament has already adjourned. Or will they be forgotten, as they seem to be?
Well, colleague, they are not forgotten and their cause is not forgotten. Although the House of Commons has risen and we may soon rise as well, please rest assured that all efforts continue to be made to secure their release and that news of any progress will no doubt be communicated, though not in this chamber, to Canadians. Let’s hope that there is good news as soon as possible.
