Canada pushes for Egyptian reforms

Cannon's comments on Saturday came as world leaders called for Mubarak to implement more democratic reforms in the wake of a massive uprising gripping Egypt for the fifth day.

Cannon told CBC News that Egyptians are obviously demanding change, so Canada is "encouraging President Mubarak and his government to go forward and put democratic reforms in place."

However, the minister said Canada is in no position to encourage Mubarak to quit politics or even leave the country, something many protesters in Egypt have been demanding over the past five days.

But when asked whether Canada could make Mubarak heed the message that his 30 years in power is the problem for Egyptians, Cannon reiterated that his country would only continue to push for reforms.

"The issue remains an Egyptian decision," Cannon told CBC News. "We don't get involved in, as you know, the internal sovereignty of a country, so it's up to President Mubarak to listen to the will of the people and to do what we think is the right thing to do in terms of bringing in reforms."

On Saturday, the White House issued a statement from U.S. President Barack Obama calling on Mubarak to avoid violence and back wide-ranging reforms.

During a meeting with his top foreign advisers, Obama "reiterated our focus on opposing violence and calling for restraint; supporting universal rights and supporting concrete steps that advance political reform within  Egypt," the White House said.

Meanwhile on Saturday, an official statement from British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancllor Angela Merkel called for free and fair elections to be held as part of Egypt's transformational process.

"We are deeply concerned about the events that we are witnessing in Egypt. We recognise the moderating role President Mubarak has played over many years in the Middle East. We now urge him to show the same moderation in addressing the current situation in Egypt," said the joint statement.

"We call on President Mubarak to avoid at all costs the use of violence against unarmed civilians, and on the demonstrators to exercise their rights peacefully."

More Canadian rallies planned

Meanwhile, Canadians across the country staged rallies on Saturday in support of the pro-democracy movement in Egypt.

Demonstrations occurred in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

On Friday, Cannon told Canadians not to travel to Egypt. He said those who have no choice but to go to the North African country during the political unrest should exercise extreme caution.

Both Canada and the United States urged the Mubarak government to limit the use of force against thousands of protesters who are demanding that he step down.

Foreign Affairs said there are approximately 6,500 Canadians in Egypt with another 80,000 to 90,000 Canadian tourists travelling to Egypt every year.

Egyptian activist Mohamed ElBaradei said on Saturday that the only way to end the unrest that is destabilizing Egypt is for Mubarak to step down and set a framework for transition of power.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner offered to help in a transitional government and promised to press on with attempts to force Mubarak to step down.

"I will continue to participate in whatever it takes to make sure that the Mubarak regime should leave. I think there is a consensus here in Egypt, in every part of society, that this is a regime that is dictatorial, that has failed to deliver on economic, social or political fronts and that we need a new beginning, an Egypt that is free and democratic and we need to go through a transitional period," he said.

ElBaradei has said Egypt needs a new constitution that would better respect human rights and put checks on power.

Mubarak, in a speech to the nation late Friday, said he would not step down but would instead fire the cabinet of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and appoint a new one.

On Saturday, Mubarak appointed a vice-president for the first time in his 30-year rule, his intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.

U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley was critical of Mubarak's decision to entirely overhaul the cabinet.

"The Egyptian government can't reshuffle the deck and then stand pat," Crowley said in a message on Twitter.

Salil Shetty, the head of Amnesty International, told The Associated Press that Mubarak's decision to fire the cabinet wouldn't quell the anti-government protests that have shaken the country for five days.

"The idea of changing your cabinet is a bit of a joke. People are very clearly saying they want very fundamental change, constitutional change," he said.