Evidence of meeting #32 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was obviously.
A video is available from Parliament.
12:45 p.m.
Conservative
David Anderson Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I've been surprised in the last couple of hours. Other than the one question that Mr. Allison has asked, no one has asked a question about regional impacts on neighbouring countries. I'm wondering if you can talk a bit about that, about Turkey, Syria, and Jordan, and the impact that this is having, and they have on them.
12:45 p.m.
Conservative
John Baird Conservative Ottawa West—Nepean, ON
With respect to Turkey, obviously the porous nature of the border there is a challenge. Obviously with respect to Syria, ISIS is a direct creation of President Assad's war against his own people. He created the fertile conditions for the establishment of this group, and he bears significant responsibility.
Jordan is always a very constructive player. It is obviously a key friend and ally of Canada. We have obviously put a significant amount, in the hundreds of millions, into humanitarian support over the years with respect to Assad's war against his own people. We put a lot of that support into Jordan to support our friends who are on the front lines of dealing with this humanitarian crisis. Obviously we will continue to do that. Minister Paradis made Jordan a country of focus with respect to development assistance.
There is no doubt, though, that Canada, the United States, and the west can play an important role, but there is a role for the Islamic world. There is a role for the Arab world. I was impressed with what came out of the Arab League the other day. Saudi Arabia has been incredibly generous on the humanitarian side. We do need everyone to take the role they are best suited to. The promotion of pluralism again is key.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
David Anderson Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK
I have one last question.
We're going to be sending personnel into norther Iraq, and I'm just wondering if you can lay out Canada's position with regard to the KRG. Do we have any concerns regarding the peshmerga? What is Canada's position recognizing Kurdistan as an independent state?
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
John Baird Conservative Ottawa West—Nepean, ON
That's not something we're looking at. We obviously want to see Iraq be safe and secure, be a pluralistic society whether you are Shia, Sunni, Kurdish, or Christian. We want to see it survive. Obviously the Kurdistan Regional Government is a key partner for us, but obviously we have important responsibilities to continue to have a good and constructive working relationship with the central government in Baghdad. I think we tried to reach out and strengthen that this past week. I visited 18 months ago.
We have to have great hope that this new government can take a different course than the previous one did. Certainly it is tremendously important for all of us, whether we are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab League, or the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and for the west as well to preach the value of inclusion. I thought it was particularly powerful when we met with the President of Iraq and we had members of three political parties with one message: inclusion, inclusion, inclusion. We will obviously work to monitor and encourage that in the new government.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Dean Allison
I want to thank our witnesses for making themselves available on such short notice for this very important topic.
To my colleagues around the room, thank you as well for rearranging your schedules to be here today.
The meeting is adjourned.
