Thank you, Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Minister, welcome.
I'm going to start with one piece of information. October 1956 was our finest hour of diplomacy, when Lester B. Pearson helped to solve the Suez crisis. This was the time of our greatest contribution to world peace. Then there was the creation of the casques bleus, the blue berets, which we're so proud of.
I'd like to begin by reviewing the chronology of events.
Since that time,
Canada has moved away from its traditional peacekeeping role in the Middle East, which restricts its ability to assist all affected parties in this region to work together to achieve a lasting resolution.
You say that on exactly July 12 the conflict started, and on July 19 the evacuation started. That was a week later.
I must tell you there were signs. I was in Morocco at the beginning of July, talking with my Lebanese colleagues and members of the Parliament of Lebanon. There were signs at that time that something big was coming in Lebanon.
Were you aware before July 12 that something was coming? It's quite important for the evacuation plan, because a week to start an evacuation is much too long. Something should have been done before that. It was great to have a crisis cell, but it was not fast enough, according to us.
Did you ever think of going through Syria? A lot of other countries--Switzerland and Brazil--passed through Syria. We have an embassy in Syria and they could have helped us. I'm not saying the only route was through Cyprus, but why didn't we also choose to go through Syria?
You also stated that the ceasefire is one element of the action plan called for in the G8 statement, but it's not the first thing. What will make you change your mind and ask for a ceasefire? There have already been three weeks of conflict, with hundreds of civilians killed on both sides and devastation of the country. We're seeing right now a moderate Arab country, moderate Lebanese, changing their minds.
What are you waiting for to call for a ceasefire? Before you do an exchange of prisoners or anything else, you need to start at the beginning, and the beginning is a ceasefire.
Merci.