Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to reiterate that we are strongly opposed to this motion. Conservatives believe that the only way to a durable and lasting peace is the creation of a two-state solution that is the result of negotiations and the arrival at an agreement between the two parties involved in this long-standing conflict. The risk with the committee adopting the motion in front of us is that it risks encouraging the Government of Canada to do the same and to recognize the Palestinian state sooner rather than later.
This would hurt Canada's interests, make no mistake about it. Canada is part of the G7. We are a founding member of NATO. We are struggling in these memberships. It's clear, over the last several years, that we are not taken seriously in G7 capitals and not taken seriously at NATO headquarters in Brussels. We have very few hard assets in the region. We once had many assets in the region. We once were able to deploy missions to the Suez, major missions to Cyprus and major missions to the Golan Heights. We no longer have the capacity to do that. We are stretched beyond thin with our current deployments. As a result, we have very few hard assets in the region.
Other democracies are doing the heavy lifting in the region, whether it's patrolling the gulf, whether it's patrolling other parts of the Middle East or whether it's in the Mediterranean. Other democracies have hard assets in the region and are doing the heavy lifting. They are not making these declaratory recognitions of Palestinian statehood. By this committee encouraging the government to do the same, to recognize, sooner rather than later, Palestinian statehood, we risk damaging Canada's interests and further diminishing our presence on the world stage.
For that reason, we cannot support it. Canada needs to be hard-nosed about its interests. Too often we are not. As a result, Canadians have suffered. We strongly oppose this motion. We think it's illogical. It's also in a context where it would reward violence and illegal activity on behalf of non-state actors to achieve statehood. We think that sends the wrong message about the rules-based international order.
For those reasons and others that I've outlined during this committee meeting, Mr. Chair, I will be voting against the motion.