Foreign Affairs Committee on Oct. 24th, 2024

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you for answering the questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you.

We now go to the second round. We are providing three minutes for the second round.

We start off with Mr. Aboultaif.

You have three minutes, sir.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Thanks to the witnesses who are on the ground today. We can do some real stuff.

One billion dollars U.S. was committed in Paris today.

How much has Canada committed as part of the one billion?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

I can't say whether anything was announced today because the meeting just wrapped up a couple of hours ago.

What I can say is that the humanitarian assistance commitment by Canada to date in 2024 is just short of $50 million. Like I said, this adds to the security programming and the development assistance that is ongoing as part of Canada's Middle East strategy.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

There are two figures for displaced people: 1.2 million and 1.4 million.

Can you confirm a number?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

These are always estimates. The figure we have is 1.2 million.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Out of those, how many are Syrian refugees who have left to go back to Syria?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

I don't have the exact number. We do know that a number of Syrian refugees, as I said in my opening remarks, have started crossing back to Syria.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Besides Lebanese being internally displaced in schools and local communities, do we know how many went to Iraq?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

No, I don't have that figure.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

You have no idea.

The previous commitment of Canadian aid to Lebanon was going toward helping the Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Now, since some have left to go to Syria, is this going to affect the amount of help and money that Canada commits to help Lebanon?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

The history of our development assistance and humanitarian assistance in the Middle East in the past—definitely in the past five years—has been guided by the Middle East strategy, which was the government's approach to funding and supporting in response to the ISIS and Daesh crisis of 10 years ago. This was the framework.

As you know, the Middle East strategy is about to sunset, so we are currently developing plans and proposals for what it will be replaced by. It is premature at this point to say what it will be replaced by.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

To strengthen the UNIFIL, there's a proposal to have a multinational United Nations force to basically help the Lebanese army cope with bringing security to southern Lebanon and to the borders.

Will Canada be able to participate? Is it an option for Canada to participate in those forces?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

If we're talking about deployment of forces, this is a question that would need to be asked of the Department of National Defence. Having said this, so far Canada has found that the best contribution was to be a financial and monetary contributor to UNIFIL. While other countries have provided troops, I cannot presume or pre-empt what might come up next.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you.

We next go to Mr. El-Khoury for two minutes.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and welcome to our witnesses.

Mr. Lévêque, the population in southern Lebanon from 1988 or 1990 to 2000 was not safe and had miserable living conditions. What role will Canada play? Does it support the presence of UN forces on both sides of the border? That gives the population double assurance and keeps away forces that are not subject to our government.

[Alexandre Lévêque]

Thank you for your question.

To conduct such an operation on sovereign territory and establish a multinational force there, you obviously have to be invited by the country that controls the territory. To my knowledge, no such proposal has ever been formally made within the United Nations. That said, there is a multinational force, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, which has huge support. That support has gotten stronger recently, including at the UN Security Council.

Given that the security infrastructure in southern Lebanon is weak because the armed forces controlling the territory are Hezbollah armed forces, the international community is determined to strengthen UNIFIL. Canada fully supports that. It has expressed its support both at the United Nations and here in a very public and bilateral way.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

A large portion of the Lebanese people do not want any forces other than Lebanese forces in southern Lebanon. However, if Canada could play a role and if UN peacekeeping forces were present on both sides of the border, it would help calm the situation and promote sustainable peace on a global scale. We don't want this war to recur every five, 10 or 15 years.

What can Canada do to get such a proposal or solution and negotiate with both parties, the Lebanese and the Israelis?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

Thank you. The suggestion you are putting on the table is duly noted.

We all have a common goal in the region, which is to eliminate the regional security threat that Hezbollah represents. I totally understand the comparison and the equivalence that you're making with respect to both sides of the border. First and foremost, though, we view the threat to the security of the sub-region as being caused by a terrorist group that, as we all know, is armed by Iran. That is what's causing most, if not all, the insecurity. That's really the priority.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

I'm afraid we're out of time. You have my apologies, Mr. El-Khoury.

We now go to Mr. Bergeron for a minute and a half.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

I'll do my best.

Mr. Lévêque, do you consider the attacks on UNIFIL to be a violation of international law?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

Again, as I said in response to previous questions, matters of international law that carry this much weight and require this much analysis cannot be described lightly as a violation of international law. However, the attacks go beyond acceptable standards, and that is why the government has taken a rather strong stand on the issue.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Wouldn't those actions alone justify taking a harder line with Israel?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

I think the—