441-02247 (Foreign affairs)

Whereas:

• Free and fair trials, judicial independence, and the rule of law are all cornerstones to Canada's democracy;
• Since June 2019, protests for democracy, freedom, universal suffrage, and regional autonomy have been occurring in Hong Kong;
• On many occasions, peaceful protestors of Hong Kong are charged and convicted of penal offences through a judiciary that is neither impartial, fair, or free;
• The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (S.C. 2001, c.27), Section 36 renders foreign nationals who have committed or been convicted of a foreign offence outside Canada inadmissible on grounds of criminality and serious criminality; and
• Hong Kong people who have been arbitrarily charged and convicted with pro-democracy movement related penal offences for political purposes are at risk of being deemed inadmissible to enter Canada.

We, the undersigned, citizens and permanent residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:

1. Recognize the politicization of the judiciary in Hong Kong and its impact on the legitimacy and validity of criminal convictions;

2. Affirm its commitment to render all National Security Law charges and convictions irrelevant and invalid in relation to Section 36(1)(c);

3. Create a mechanism by which Hong Kong people with pro-democracy movement related convictions may provide an explanation for such convictions, on the basis of which Government officials can grant exemptions to Hong Kong people who are deemed inadmissible under A36(1)(b), (2)(b), and (2)(c) upon examination of the circumstances and determination that the applicant's criminal record is political in nature; and

4. Work with the United Kingdom, United States, France, Australia, New Zealand, and other democracies to waive criminal inadmissibility of Hong Kong people convicted for political purposes, who otherwise do not have a criminal record.