Speech (committee meeting)

{
    "time": "2011-12-01 08:40:00",
    "attribution": {
        "en": "Hon. John Baird",
        "fr": ""
    },
    "content": {
        "en": "<p data-HoCid=\"2644798\" data-originallang=\"en\">We are deeply concerned by the lack of religious freedoms around the world and the real challenges that many religious minorities have. For example, in northern Africa, the situation among Coptic Christians in Egypt\u2014before the revolution and after\u2014causes us very deep concern. When Roman Catholic priests in China are forced to go underground, that causes us real concern. When the ecumenical patriarch has real challenges in Turkey, that causes us real concern. When the Baha'i community in Iran\u2014which has an abysmal and regrettably deteriorating human rights record\u2014is persecuted, that causes us concern. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2644799\" data-originallang=\"en\">So what we wanted to do was to establish an office of religious freedom\u2014we have not done that yet, but we will be speaking to that in very short order\u2014that will serve as a diplomatic tool to shine light on the importance of this challenge. We're very committed to it, and we look forward to speaking to that more in the not-too-distant future. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2644800\" data-originallang=\"en\">We have, over the course of the past year, put a significant focus on religious freedoms. We fought hard to get reference to it at the G-8 communiqu\u00e9. Even on my recent trip to Kuwait, where we met the G-8 and North African and Middle Eastern foreign ministers, we got a statement of religious freedom there. It's a fundamental freedom, which we feel very strongly about. </p>",
        "fr": "<p data-HoCid=\"2644798\" data-originallang=\"en\">Nous sommes tr\u00e8s pr\u00e9occup\u00e9s par le manque de libert\u00e9 religieuse partout dans le monde et les probl\u00e8mes r\u00e9els auxquels les minorit\u00e9s religieuses sont confront\u00e9es. Par exemple, nous sommes tr\u00e8s pr\u00e9occup\u00e9s \u2014 comme nous l'\u00e9tions avant la r\u00e9volution \u2014 par la situation des chr\u00e9tiens coptes d'\u00c9gypte, en Afrique du Nord; par les pr\u00eatres catholiques en Chine forc\u00e9s de cacher; par les difficult\u00e9s que le patriarche oecum\u00e9nique subit en Turquie; par la pers\u00e9cution de la communaut\u00e9 baha'ie en Iran, dont le bilan catastrophique des droits de la personne se d\u00e9t\u00e9riore malheureusement. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2644799\" data-originallang=\"en\">Nous voulons donc \u00e9tablir un bureau des libert\u00e9s religieuses, ce que nous n'avons pas encore fait, mais nous en parlerons tr\u00e8s bient\u00f4t. Ce bureau servira d'outil diplomatique pour mettre en lumi\u00e8re l'importance des probl\u00e8mes. Nous sommes tr\u00e8s d\u00e9termin\u00e9s \u00e0 ce propos et nous avons h\u00e2te d'en parler davantage; nous le ferons sous peu. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2644800\" data-originallang=\"en\">Durant la derni\u00e8re ann\u00e9e, nous avons mis l'accent sur les libert\u00e9s religieuses. Nous avons lutt\u00e9 pour qu'il en soit question dans le communiqu\u00e9 du G8. M\u00eame \u00e0 l'occasion de mon r\u00e9cent voyage au Kowe\u00eft, o\u00f9 nous avons rencontr\u00e9 les ministres des Affaires \u00e9trang\u00e8res du G8, de l'Afrique du Nord et du Moyen-Orient, nous avons publi\u00e9 une d\u00e9claration sur les libert\u00e9s religieuses. Il s'agit de libert\u00e9s fondamentales, qui nous tiennent \u00e0 coeur.</p>"
    },
    "url": "/committees/foreign-affairs/41-1/13/john-baird-11/",
    "politician_url": "/politicians/john-baird/",
    "politician_membership_url": "/politicians/memberships/326/",
    "procedural": false,
    "source_id": "5081576",
    "document_url": "/committees/foreign-affairs/41-1/13/",
    "related": {
        "document_speeches_url": "/speeches/?document=%2Fcommittees%2Fforeign-affairs%2F41-1%2F13%2F"
    }
}