Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  We should open our doors to large numbers of Iranian activists, many of them women’s rights activists, who are currently languishing in Iran or in nearby countries like Turkey and Iraq. We should, in turn, close our doors to officials and affiliates of the regime who wish to bring their funds and families here. In 1998, Nelson Mandela spoke to our House of Commons and expressed his gratitude to this country, saying, “thank you...for helping us end our oppression”.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  All the intelligence was pointing towards weapons of mass destruction. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, after all of the intelligence that was being fed in by Five Eyes partners. I think many of us have a lot of respect for the amount of resources and tools that the U.S. has at its disposal and especially that its federal agencies have.

Gulf War Anniversary  I joined with the Persian Gulf Veterans of Canada to lay a wreath on the National War Memorial last week to recognize their service. The war began in 1990 when Iraq invaded neighbouring Kuwait. I was a university student at the time, and it was the first time that we saw war in real time on our TV screens. Regardless of how Canadians felt about the war at the time, once we sent our military personnel there, we all supported the women and men who left their families for the unknown, not knowing when or if they would ever return.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Once again, this is a very important question. My intent in using the example of what happened in Iraq was to suggest that even when there is a consensus view within an intel community, that view can sometimes be wrong, so I think it is entirely appropriate within our system, and within all pluralistic systems, to welcome a range of views on any one subject, particularly something as threatening as foreign interference.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There are glaring historical examples, Madam Chair, even when that picture finally emerges, of the intel's being just plainly wrong. The war in Iraq comes to mind. In this context, I would make one final point. Intel that gets leaked and is then taken out of context—for example, a report from a single uncorroborated source.... If that report instantly becomes taken as fact, this can actually be prejudicial to Canada's national security.

Arab Heritage Month Act  In my riding of London—Fanshawe, I have a large Arab Canadian population that I am extremely proud to call my friends, neighbours and community partners. I have people from all over the Arab world: Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Sudan and many more. Each Arab Canadian community has its own traditions, regalia, food, music, dance and ceremonies, which is something I cherish.

National Defence committee  I was told at one point that the United States government was looking at physical facilities in Russia that might possibly be victims of an attack. We do know the U.S. government put a virus in printers that went into Iraq and so on. It's going on out there. I don't think we have a clear policy on it. I think we need to know. I've realized for security reasons that they may not want to be forthcoming about when they actually do it.

Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims  I have always been a voice for human rights around the world, for the Afghans fleeing the Taliban, for the Rohingya fleeing Myanmar, for Coptic Christians in northern Iraq and for the Palestinian people denied their basic rights, and I will always raise my voice for those in need. With my vote on this motion, we send a message: We will not look away.

Veterans Affairs committee  Army veteran of the 101st Airborne, who deployed to the early invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and was injured in his last tour. I have personally witnessed how war changes our loved ones. I am all too familiar with and extremely proud to be part of the lives of military families and military culture, but for many civilians, there exists an ignorance as to what the reality is truly like in re-establishing in civilian life after these experiences.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Military intervention has never had any kind of positive response, not only in Haiti but in Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq as well. It's obvious to all of us. The situation in Haiti right now, we have to agree, is not acceptable, but, at the same time, getting rid of gangs is not a solution in itself. It's getting rid of conditions that make people get into gangs.

Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022  The government also says that it is due to the high price of oil, but the price of oil was the same when the Harper government was in place, and we never had an inflation rate over 4%. Finally, there were wars in the Middle East, in Iraq, in Syria and in Afghanistan when the Harper government was in place, and we did not have inflation like we are seeing now. What we have today is $500 billion of inflationary deficit that is driving up the cost of everything we buy and all the interest we pay.

Canada-China Relations committee  I think it needs to start with the premise that, as I mentioned in my remarks, any contingency over Taiwan.... This is not a luxury. This is not one that we insulate ourselves from. This is not Iraq in 2003. This is not a potential conflict of choice. If the United States is involved in kinetic action and hot conflict in East Asia versus China, it's only a peer competitor. We are intimately involved.

Fall Economic Statement  Beyond that, under the previous Conservative government, there were wars. There was a massive war in Afghanistan, and there were others in Iraq and Syria, but we never had inflation anywhere over 4%. In fact, we were able to successfully contribute to defeating terrorists and tyrants in those conflicts while keeping the inflation level low here in Canada.

National Defence committee  One of the things that we have to watch and that we are all guilty of, basically, is ignoring the Russian military interventions when Canada and the western allies were involved with the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns that were being conducted. Since the time they were occurring, the Russians have maintained a series of wars, starting in 1999 against the Chechens, in 2008 against Georgia, and then again in 2014 with the Ukrainians.

Foreign Affairs committee  Since this evolution of the revolutionary government in Iran, we have seen atrocities continue, whether they're at neighbours' expenses, including the most recent bombing last weekend in Iraq, support for insurgents and other violence in Yemen, or the constant, persistent threat on Israel. It is a pathological threat to Israel that has continued and that has gained certain momentum in certain neighbouring countries from time to time; however, we know that Iran is at the epicentre of that.