The government initially defended the $300-million deal, which is being facilitated by the Canadian Commercial Corp., saying the Montreal-built Bell helicopters would be used for search-and-rescue missions and disaster relief. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also raised concerns about extrajudicial killings while visiting the country in November, specifically those related to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s violent crackdown on illegal drugs. Champagne said the deal, which was quietly finalized in December, was conducted through a memorandum of understanding between Canada and the Philippines signed by the previous Conservative government in 2012. Amnesty 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: National Post February 07, 2018 23:37 UTC