The policy proposal has come out of a working group in Markham Greens and just went through a prioritization vote.
The results
G21-P027 Reduce Strategic Dependency on Gross and Systematic Human Rights Violators Option Votes Green 3049 (79.5%) Yellow 597 (15.6%) Red 191 (5.0%)
The next phase for the policy is to be discussed at the GPC General Meeting in November.
The full policy submission is below.
Title: Reduce Strategic Dependency on Gross and Systematic Human Rights Violators
Objective: To develop Canada’s political leverage and economic independence of voice on our approach to relations with countries that have major human rights violations and deep economic ties with Canada.
Benefit: Reduce the effects of coercive diplomacy, thereby strengthening Canada’s ability to safeguard our values in democracy and human rights both at home and abroad.
Principles: Participatory Democracy, Social Justice, Respect for Diversity, Non-Violence
Type of Proposal: Political policy proposal which proclaims what the party would work toward if elected.
Proposal: Be it resolved that the Green Party of Canada advocates the disentanglement of trade with, the reduction of economic dependency from, and the implementation of multilateral restrictive measures against authoritarian states where evidence confirms gross and systematic violations of International Human Rights Law (IHRL).
Evidence: China is Canada’s second largest trading partner after the U.S. British think tank Henry Jackson Society warned in a report that members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, U.K., U.S.) were strategically dependent on China in 831 categories of goods, including in critical industries such as communications, energy, transport systems, and information technology. Canada is strategically dependent on China for 367 categories of goods. 83 of these have applications in critical national infrastructure. Saudi Arabia is Canada’s 17th largest trading partner, and is Canada’s second largest export market in the Middle East. Originally negotiated in 2014, the Canadian government renegotiated the $14 billion agreement in early 2020 to continue the sale of light-armoured vehicles (LAVs) to Saudi Arabia, citing that cancellation would have meant penalties up to the full value of the agreement, along with thousands of Canadian jobs in southwestern Ontario and across the defense industry supply chain. Both the Auditor-General and UN Human Rights Council subsequently found the export of LAVs to Saudi Arabia carries significant human rights concerns.
Jurisdiction: Yes
Contact: Elvin Kao (elvin.kao@greenparty.ca), Markham-Unionville MP Candidate
