Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my colleague, the member for Lakeland.
I begin my comments about the motion by thanking the brave men and women of our armed forces for their contribution and sacrifices in the fight against ISIS. Our Canadian fighter pilots, indeed all our men and women in uniform, should never have to question Canada's commitment to the fight against ISIS. Unfortunately, with its motion, the Liberal government is asking them to do that, to question whether we have the stomach for this fight.
I have a unique perspective. Like a number of other members of the House, my background is from humble Mennonite roots. As a Mennonite community, our focus has been peace, peacemaking, living at peace with others around us in the community and our country and our neighbourhoods. We have taken seriously the reminder in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the peacemakers”.
I want to draw a distinction between peacemaking and peacekeeping. There are some on the other side who suggest that Canada has always been and is defined by who we are as peacekeepers. I will be the first to admit that Canadians have distinguished themselves as peacekeepers around the world, but that does not define who we are as Canadians.
In fact, Canada truly became a nation in World War I when we sent our brave men and women into battle to stand up against tyranny. We did the same thing in World War II, in which we stood up against hatred, against fascism, against racism, and we were successful in doing that. Imagine what the world would be like had we not engaged and had we lost that fight. Those conflicts were not about peacekeeping. They were about forging a lasting peace in which the rights of all were respected and in which the values of democracy, freedom, human rights, and the rule of law were promoted and established on a lasting basis.
This whole canard about Canada simply being a peacekeeping nation does not do credit in any way to Canada's history and our forward-looking commitment to continuing to stand up for the most vulnerable people around the world. Close to 117,000 Canadians have lost their lives in combat, standing up for the very principles I just raised.
What has defined us as a nation is our willingness to stand up against evil, to stand up and identify right from wrong, not simply to turn a blind eye to the scourge of violence and tyranny against the most vulnerable around the world.
That brings me to the notion of responsibility to protect. That is something we have not heard from the Liberal side much.
The United Nations has adopted this principle of responsibility to protect. There is no situation that more aptly reflects what this is all about than the situation in Rwanda, when global community was called to engage in a situation where genocide was taking place. We did not engage, and what a horrific outcome that was.
The responsibility to protect simply says that when there is such a significant risk to a people group, to a group of human beings, and that risk is being generated by those who are truly evil, the world, the global community, has an obligation to intervene. I cannot imagine a situation more appropriate to apply that principle to than in the Middle East in the fight against ISIS.
ISIS hates our Canadian values. It is an extremist religious ideology that wants to impose a global caliphate upon our world that would govern both Muslims and non-Muslims. It is a violent ideology, one that goes after the most vulnerable, religious minorities, and ethnic minorities. Its members put people in cages. They burn them. They drown them. They behead young children who are listening to pop music. They rape women. They sell young girls into slavery. It goes on and on.
Canada has historically always stood up against and confronted these kinds of evils in the world. We are one of those targets.
I want to remind everyone in the House that the suggestion that this is a conflict in a far-off land on a distant shore is simply a false premise. The more successful ISIS is in the Middle East, the more Canadians will become emboldened and inspired. These are typically misinformed and vulnerable Canadians who then themselves become radicalized and commit horrific acts of terrorism against Canadians.
We have seen that in Canada right here on Parliament Hill. One of our soldiers was killed at the national monument. Another one of our guards was shot here. The same thing happened in Quebec. The long arms of terrorism reach into Canada. If we do not confront it in the Middle East, it will become even more pernicious and prevalent in Canada.
There are some who suggest that our allies are happy with our decision and very pleased that we have withdrawn our fighter jets from this fight against ISIS. The Liberals have suggested that they have consulted with our allies and they are completely okay with it.
In today's edition of the National Post, there is a headline that screams, “U.S. general heading air campaign against ISIL says ‘it was kind of sad to see’ Canada pull CF-18s”.
This three-star general, Charles Brown, goes on to say:
I realize that for your operators who fly the F-18s, your pilots, I think they are a little disappointed because I know if I was one of them at the squadron level and much younger, I would probably be feeling the same way.
He went on to say that he found out Canada's new government intended to withdraw its jets, not through consultations but by watching CNN, of all places. Is that what we do to our allies? These people and countries have been our partners in the fight against tyranny and terrorism, and this is how we treat our allies?
We have seen the evidence of terrorism all around the world. We have seen it in Paris, in the Middle East, in Africa, and now in Asia. Canadians understand the threat we face.
What have our fighter jets achieved? In summary, without going into detail, with all the sorties they have flown and the facilities they have destroyed, our efforts, and those of our allies, have essentially meant that ISIS is now on the run. Its safe havens are being eliminated one at a time. Its source of funding is drying up. Therefore, as we consider this issue, we must understand that there is a lot at stake here.
I am asking the government to reconsider its decision. There is general acknowledgement that the decision the Liberal government made to withdraw our fighter jets from the fight against ISIS was strictly a political one. It was a calculation made to allow the current government to wedge itself against a previous government. That is exactly what happened, and that is no basis for us to play our significant role within the allied effort to fight the scourge of terrorism around the world.
I do not want to in any way diminish the humanitarian efforts that have to take place in the Middle East, Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere around the world. Canada does its part. We do our part in welcoming refugees into our country. We do our part in robust diplomacy. However, when we are withdrawing our fighter jets from the Middle East in a fight against ISIS, we are also increasing the risk to our men and women in uniform who are on the ground fighting the good fight, providing training to the Kurds, doing intelligence gathering, and painting targets they can no longer attack. Rather, we will leave it to our allies to do the heavy lifting. We are leaving a shameful record behind for future generations.
I ask the government to reconsider its position and restore our fighter jets as part of the allied effort in fighting terrorism.
