MPs vote to strip Suu Kyi of honorary Canadian citizenship over Rohingya crisis
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 Quebecois 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 in 2007.
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 crimes in Myanmar.