QUESTION PERIOD — Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Repatriation of Canadian Citizens--ISIS Participants
June 4, 2019
Honourable senators, on a different matter, Senator Harder, since May 21, 11 French citizens have been sentenced to death by Iraqi courts for their involvement with the Islamic state. Under Iraqi law, you don’t need to have been a combatant for ISIS to get the death penalty; you could have been a cook, a mechanic, a doctor, and then you’ll still get a death sentence. France has decided it will not intervene in these matters.
Senator Harder, what is the position of the Trudeau government regarding Canadian citizens who are members of ISIS? Does your government intend to repatriate them, even if it means we do not have enough evidence to convict them in Canadian courts, or will you let the Iraqi justice system decide their fate?
Again, I thank the honourable senator for her question. She will know that the circumstances she’s describing are very contentious and there are a lot of efforts under way to bring clarity to the next steps.
I will undertake to get back to the honourable senator when I have the latest information as to how those steps are evolving.
