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Uyghur Genocide: Party Report Card |
How We Graded Parties
Using a strictly non-partisan approach, this report card evaluates the five main federal political parties in Canada on their responses to the ongoing Uyghur genocide and human rights abuses in East Turkistan (referred to by China as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region). Each party was assessed across four key areas:
Grades were based on actions from 2020 onward, with special attention to moments when parties had the chance to lead. This includes House votes, committee work, media statements, legislative proposals, motions or bills, and responses to diaspora concerns. Priority was given to concrete policy steps. We also looked at whether parties followed up initial support with long-term attention.
- Recognition of the Uyghur genocide
- Support for sanctions or trade
- Action on forced labour in Canadian supply chains
- Support for refugee resettlement and family reunification in Canada
- Foreign interference by Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
Grades were based on actions from 2020 onward, with special attention to moments when parties had the chance to lead. This includes House votes, committee work, media statements, legislative proposals, motions or bills, and responses to diaspora concerns. Priority was given to concrete policy steps. We also looked at whether parties followed up initial support with long-term attention.
Context and Additional Analysis
Liberal Party: The Liberals were in power during the peak years of attention to the Uyghur crisis. While they took some meaningful steps early on, they’ve failed to build momentum or follow through. In 2021 and 2024, they imposed Magnitsky sanctions on 12 Chinese officials and entities for various Uyghur abuses. Despite multiple requests from civil society and opposition MPs, the Liberals have resisted using the full scope of Canada’s sanctions regime against China. Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and some cabinet ministers also abstained on the historic 2021 parliamentary motion that recognized the Uyghur genocide. There’s also been little follow-up on calls to strengthen Canada’s refugee pathways for Uyghurs, which have gone largely unanswered. The Liberals announced in 2023 that they would resettle 10,000 Uyghurs from third countries, but have not provided a public update or timeline. In 2025, Uyghur families are still waiting. The Liberals passed legislation in 2021 to prohibit the import of goods made with forced labour, but enforcement has been almost nonexistent. As of 2025, one shipment has been stopped under this law. Supply chain audits remain private and self-reported with no real enforcement mechanisms of rules. Uyghur activists have pointed out that Canadian companies continue to sell goods linked to East Turkistan cotton and polysilicon. The government has promised mandatory reporting and transparency, but little has changed on the ground.
Conservative Party: The Conservatives have positioned themselves as the toughest party on China, but that framing sometimes leans more into political posturing than sustained care for Uyghur communities. They initiated the 2021 parliamentary motion recognizing the Uyghur genocide. They have demanded stronger sanctions, a foreign agent registry, and a ban on products linked to forced labour. They have also called for a reverse onus model for Canadian importers, which would put the responsibility on companies to prove their supply chains are clean (a much stronger model than what currently exists). But their advocacy often treats the Uyghur genocide as a tool for broader China antagonism, rather than centering the lived experiences of Uyghur-Canadians. Their platform lacks meaningful discussion of refugee protection, diaspora safety or healing for those impacted. While they champion individual cases like Minister Michael Chong’s, they do not always connect that advocacy to broader structural protections for vulnerable diaspora communities. Lastly, the party’s message is loud but not always intersectional: it doesn’t speak to how racism, Islamophobia and surveillance intersect for the communities they claim to defend. Conservative efforts for Uyghur Muslims are significant but also politically selective. Their voice is important in pushing accountability, but sounds more anti-China than pro-Uyghur.
New Democratic Party (NDP): The NDP’s strength lies in how they’ve linked the Uyghur crisis to broader struggles for human rights, community safety and international justice. Their MPs have spoken from personal experience (not just policy) especially when it comes to being targeted for their advocacy. What is missing, however, is a proactive agenda around refugee protection. The party has been clear in its support for accountability and trade reform, but it has not led on what support for Uyghur-Canadians should look like on the ground. The NDP has pushed for mandatory human rights due diligence laws that would force companies to prove their supply chains are free of forced labour and other abuses. Unlike the government’s light-touch approach, the NDP has called for actual enforcement mechanisms, public reporting, and penalties for noncompliance. They have framed forced labour as a Canadian ethical failure, not just an international trade issue. However, their proposals have not always translated into broad public pressure. There is a chance here for the NDP to go further into consumer activism, procurement reform, diaspora-led accountability campaigns, expedited family reunification, long-term protections for communities facing ongoing transnational repression, and to push for trauma-informed services.
Bloc Québécois: The Bloc has held a steady line against foreign interference and in support of Uyghur rights. But their voice on this issue often gets folded into a broader sovereignty and anti-Beijing stance, which does not always reflect the urgent, human-centered concerns raised by Uyghur-Canadians. Their messaging tends to stay procedural and abstract, focused on inquiries, international relations or electoral integrity. While they vote well on the record, they have not built strong relationships with impacted communities or brought forward clear demands around refugee pathways, surveillance protections or diaspora-led solutions. Their commitment is real, but limited to the frames they’re most comfortable operating in. The Bloc has supported motions and votes related to banning forced labour goods, but their engagement has been minimal beyond that. They have not led on legislation or joined broader advocacy efforts to demand due diligence from Canadian corporations. Most of their statements are filtered through a lens of trade policy and economic sovereignty, which is consistent with their general positioning, but does not reflect a deep investment in the specific realities Uyghur workers are facing. They have also been absent from public conversations about Canadian companies’ complicity in supply chain abuse. The Bloc’s votes line up, but they have not taken risks or ownership on this file.
Green Party: The Greens have held a clear and principled stance, but it’s often gone under the radar. They have endorsed strong reforms, spoken up for transparency, and even brought internal safeguards into their own party around foreign interference. Their message has stayed in policy language, not people-first storytelling. This limits their reach, especially in moments when political courage is needed the most. The Greens consistently called for robust action against forced labour and unethical supply chains. They have supported calls for mandatory due diligence and demanded that Canada hold corporations accountable, including through trade penalties. While their policy is solid, they have not elevated Uyghur labour exploitation as a core human rights issue in the national conversation.
Conservative Party: The Conservatives have positioned themselves as the toughest party on China, but that framing sometimes leans more into political posturing than sustained care for Uyghur communities. They initiated the 2021 parliamentary motion recognizing the Uyghur genocide. They have demanded stronger sanctions, a foreign agent registry, and a ban on products linked to forced labour. They have also called for a reverse onus model for Canadian importers, which would put the responsibility on companies to prove their supply chains are clean (a much stronger model than what currently exists). But their advocacy often treats the Uyghur genocide as a tool for broader China antagonism, rather than centering the lived experiences of Uyghur-Canadians. Their platform lacks meaningful discussion of refugee protection, diaspora safety or healing for those impacted. While they champion individual cases like Minister Michael Chong’s, they do not always connect that advocacy to broader structural protections for vulnerable diaspora communities. Lastly, the party’s message is loud but not always intersectional: it doesn’t speak to how racism, Islamophobia and surveillance intersect for the communities they claim to defend. Conservative efforts for Uyghur Muslims are significant but also politically selective. Their voice is important in pushing accountability, but sounds more anti-China than pro-Uyghur.
New Democratic Party (NDP): The NDP’s strength lies in how they’ve linked the Uyghur crisis to broader struggles for human rights, community safety and international justice. Their MPs have spoken from personal experience (not just policy) especially when it comes to being targeted for their advocacy. What is missing, however, is a proactive agenda around refugee protection. The party has been clear in its support for accountability and trade reform, but it has not led on what support for Uyghur-Canadians should look like on the ground. The NDP has pushed for mandatory human rights due diligence laws that would force companies to prove their supply chains are free of forced labour and other abuses. Unlike the government’s light-touch approach, the NDP has called for actual enforcement mechanisms, public reporting, and penalties for noncompliance. They have framed forced labour as a Canadian ethical failure, not just an international trade issue. However, their proposals have not always translated into broad public pressure. There is a chance here for the NDP to go further into consumer activism, procurement reform, diaspora-led accountability campaigns, expedited family reunification, long-term protections for communities facing ongoing transnational repression, and to push for trauma-informed services.
Bloc Québécois: The Bloc has held a steady line against foreign interference and in support of Uyghur rights. But their voice on this issue often gets folded into a broader sovereignty and anti-Beijing stance, which does not always reflect the urgent, human-centered concerns raised by Uyghur-Canadians. Their messaging tends to stay procedural and abstract, focused on inquiries, international relations or electoral integrity. While they vote well on the record, they have not built strong relationships with impacted communities or brought forward clear demands around refugee pathways, surveillance protections or diaspora-led solutions. Their commitment is real, but limited to the frames they’re most comfortable operating in. The Bloc has supported motions and votes related to banning forced labour goods, but their engagement has been minimal beyond that. They have not led on legislation or joined broader advocacy efforts to demand due diligence from Canadian corporations. Most of their statements are filtered through a lens of trade policy and economic sovereignty, which is consistent with their general positioning, but does not reflect a deep investment in the specific realities Uyghur workers are facing. They have also been absent from public conversations about Canadian companies’ complicity in supply chain abuse. The Bloc’s votes line up, but they have not taken risks or ownership on this file.
Green Party: The Greens have held a clear and principled stance, but it’s often gone under the radar. They have endorsed strong reforms, spoken up for transparency, and even brought internal safeguards into their own party around foreign interference. Their message has stayed in policy language, not people-first storytelling. This limits their reach, especially in moments when political courage is needed the most. The Greens consistently called for robust action against forced labour and unethical supply chains. They have supported calls for mandatory due diligence and demanded that Canada hold corporations accountable, including through trade penalties. While their policy is solid, they have not elevated Uyghur labour exploitation as a core human rights issue in the national conversation.