Video: Cotler comments on working with the foreign affairs minister and his Conservative colleagues on the foreign affairs subcommittee on the issue of political prisoners.
OTTAWA – Liberal MP Irwin Cotler said Friday he hopes to work with the government on a private member’s bill to advocate on behalf of political prisoners, and is willing to turn over the legislation to the Conservatives.
Cotler said he wants the bill to name and identify political prisoners and create a comprehensive database of information.
“I work closely with the government on these issues where we really have common cause,” he said.
Cotler, recently returned from a human rights summit in Geneva, has attempted to work with the government before on a bill that would allow Canadian victims of terror to sue their perpetrators in Canadian courts. But after including the legislation in their 2011 omnibus crime bill, the Conservatives rejected his amendments only to bring them back as their own.
“Sometimes, it’s still partisan, and it’s adversarial,” Cotler said. “When that happens it’s to the disservice of us all.”
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A spokesman for Foreign Minister John Baird said he “has always worked closely with Mr. Cotler in promoting human rights.”
Cotler refused to comment, however, about a Conservative MP barring him from an event in Israel last month. But he said Parliamentary delegations – such as the one recently departed for Ukraine – should be inclusive of opposition members.
“Whether we’re in power, or they’re in power, I think the best way to go is to be inclusive and be representative, and that way it serves the cause of Parliament and the Canadian people,” he said.
READ MORE: Conservative MP Adler won’t comment on allegedly banning Irwin Cotler from event in Israel
Cotler also announced a series of initiatives to highlight international human rights, including taking up the case of Swedish-Eritrean prisoner Dawit Isaak, whom Cotler says has been imprisoned for 11 years without trial in Eritrea.
He also plans to petition for the removal of China, Cuba, Russia and Saudi Arabia from the United Nations Human Rights Council.
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