Foreign Affairs committee  I'm not sure I'm in a position to sufficiently answer, but it's an important question. Thank you.

Foreign Affairs committee  I think it could work with its allies. I think it would require a multilateral effort. Canada could not set up this kind of tribunal alone, and it would be most legitimate if it had the buy-in of both Israel and the Palestinian Authority in order to create this. Hybrid tribunals are best created when the parties to a conflict themselves accept it.

Foreign Affairs committee  I think the first thing to do is to start the conversation with allies, including our allies and partners in the Middle East itself. Of course, in my view, the best institution to work with would be the United Nations, to set up a court based on an international treaty that would be mandated to investigate and prosecute these crimes.

Foreign Affairs committee  It is my view that a lot of the hostilities, a lot of the acts of terrorism and the international crimes in this conflict are fuelled in part because of an extreme amount of humiliation and shame. We know that humiliation and shame often lead people to various forms of violence.

Foreign Affairs committee  I would be happy to.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much for the question. Indeed, Canada played an absolutely indispensable role in creating the International Criminal Court. The recent deputy prosecutor of the ICC, James Stewart, is also a Canadian. When I spoke of this idea of creating an international justice ambassador, it's because we have such a great wealth of international lawyers and people who are committed to the prosecution of international crimes.

Foreign Affairs committee  I think it's the number of allegations that have been made. The ICC is not an especially well-funded court. It gets, I think, the equivalent of an hour of military expenditure from the Iraq war, less than sports teams get on this continent, and it has all of its jurisdiction to deal with and so many different situations.

Foreign Affairs committee  On the situation in Ukraine, I would note that, at the Nuremberg trials, the crime of aggression was declared as the supreme crime, because only once the crime of aggression has been committed can other crimes be committed, such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Foreign Affairs committee  I think some of Canada's allies appreciate its positions on different international legal matters. I can say that, in my discussions with member states of the International Criminal Court—many, if not all, are allies of Canada—there is a concern. They fail to understand why Canada would not support the International Criminal Court's investigations into Palestine.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for the questions. In terms of the International Criminal Court, Canada's position is simply that it does not recognize that Palestine is a state and therefore, the ICC can't investigate in the country. What is notable about that is members of Parliament have repeatedly expressed their desire for Canada to investigate other situations in other countries that are not member states of the ICC, including China over the Xinjiang atrocities and Iran over its atrocities.

Foreign Affairs committee  Sure, and I, along with other Canadians, have watched the remarkable work done in Ukraine to bring Canadians home, and for others as well, in Afghanistan after the pullout and in Sudan. I think that's remarkable and incredible work. The only thing that I think I would add to that, not being an expert on consular services, is that sometimes there's a tendency to suggest that once that is done, we can then turn the page and look onwards.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much for the question. Of course, I agree that Canada can't do everything, but where it sees opportunities to foster accountability and to work with its diplomatic partners to achieve a degree of justice and accountability, I think it should take it. I strongly believe that our ability to do so credibly is enhanced if we do so at home.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I want to speak to Canada's commitment to a rules-based system in relation to the very currency of diplomacy: international law. In particular, I will focus on Canada's approach to prosecuting international crimes, war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression.