"The moment that I saw a statement by a senior military official in the Philippines which indicated otherwise, I immediately asked the Canadian Commercial Corp. for a review." Champagne to review Philippines helicopter deal0:48Champagne added that neither he nor any other ministers were asked to authorize the contract. The company has so far remained tight-lipped about the deal, including whether it conducted any human-rights assessments before completing the contract. Mitigating risksAmnesty International Canada called on the government Wednesday to reveal whether a human-rights assessment was conducted for the Philippines deal, and what safeguards are in place to ensure the helicopters are used properly. The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines wrote to Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland last year asking whether those helicopters had been used to commit human-right abuses.

Source: CBC News February 07, 2018 23:15 UTC