MPs vote to strip Suu Kyie of honorary citizenship over ‘genocide’

OTTAWA — MPs have unanimously endorsed a motion to revoke the honorary Canadian citizenship of Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

The vote, on a Bloc Québécois motion, followed Thursday’s question period and came one day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was up to Parliament to decide whether to strip the honour given to Suu Kyi.

The once-celebrated Burmese reformer has been widely criticized for not speaking out against the atrocities being committed against her country’s Rohingya people. Trudeau’s Liberals had faced pressure to revoke the honour, but had refused to say whether they would consider such a step.

A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Thursday that the government made up its mind to support the idea in response to Suu Kyi’s silence on the Myanmar crimes.

“Our government supported this motion in response to her continued failure to speak out against the genocide of the Rohingya, a crime being committed by the military with which she shares power,” Adam Austen wrote in an emailed statement.

“We will continue to support the Rohingya people through humanitarian assistance, targeted sanctions against Myanmar’s generals and by pushing for accountability for those responsible through an appropriate international body.”

The Opposition Conservatives called the vote to remove her citizenship a “step in the right direction,” but pressed the Liberals to do more for the Rohingya people “than make a symbolic gesture.”

The Bloc MP who put forward the motion to strip Suu Kyi of the honorary citizenship was happy to attract cross-party support, but he was uncertain — as many were — about the exact process the government must now follow.