Foreign Affairs Committee on April 14th, 2026

[Noah Bonsey]

Thank you for that.

We all saw, in negative terms, how destabilizing the Syrian war became through millions of Syrians fleeing the war, radicalization and all of the negative ways that unfolded. Syria now has an opportunity to be, basically, the reverse of that. It is, as others have mentioned, an island of stability in a region at war right now. It has a chance to become a success story. Its leadership does need to be engaged conditionally, as others are saying, but constructively, the country needs material support.

In a world where so much seems to be getting worse, Syria is a place that is actually getting better, relative to how horrible things have been over the last 15 years and beyond. It is worthy of your investment, even in a time of ever more constrained resources.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Ms. Dureid, I'll ask you the same question.

[Muzna Dureid]

I'm sorry, I didn't hear the question.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Canada will be delivering an economic update on April 28. You have the opportunity to send the Carney government a message about the importance of humanitarian aid and international development, including for Syria, so that it can restore funding to the envelope it recently cut by more than $2.5 billion.

Would you like to comment on that?

[Muzna Dureid]

The humanitarian needs are immense. There's no guarantee the democratic transition will succeed without humanitarian aid for civilians, because there were problems to begin with.

Canada has invested a lot in humanitarian action to support civil society in Syria. It should continue doing so to support the transition because the situation is quite fragile. Some 1.5 million people are in internal camps, and refugees are returning to Syria. Right now, the war is putting a lot of pressure on gas prices and people's basic needs, so I think the government should continue to help Syria.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you, Ms. Dureid.

Next, we have MP Michael Chong.

You have five minutes.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills North, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

I have a question about Russia.

Russia has two bases in Syria: an air base and a naval base. The current government has suspended the 49-year lease, as we understand it. The implications of that are not clear.

Could all of you tell us what your analyses or assessments are of the future of these Russian naval and air bases in Syria?

[Noah Bonsey]

It's a great question. For this, we should really go back very briefly to what happened during the HTS-led rebel offensive that overthrew the country, because that tells us why Russia is still there.

During that offensive, as it was gaining ground, HTS, which is now the current leadership of Syria, reached out to the Russians and negotiated to keep the Russians from backing the regime to the very last moment. About halfway through their offensive, the Russians basically cut the regime loose, and that was the result of diplomatic engagement between the two. It's my understanding that there was no particular promise about the future other than the principle that the fall of the Assad regime did not mean that Russia would be kicked out immediately thereafter and discussions would follow.

Obviously, Syria's most important relationships right now are with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United States and with western countries, generally, including Canada. Russia is very far down the list. They do not have a friendly relationship with Russia at this stage, but they are trying to prevent the resumption of tensions. Russia backed the Assad regime to the hilt throughout the war. There's a lot of bad blood between Damascus and Moscow now, but they're trying to maintain a—let's say—normal relationship.

I think the future of those bases will be under constant negotiation between Damascus and Moscow. There will never be trust, but they will also try to avoid making unnecessary problems for each other. They'll look for shared interests where they exist, but I don't imagine they'll ever be allies.

[Muzna Dureid]

From my side, I think what Syria did—and we saw this last week when Mr. Zelenskyy visited Syria—was like a sign of trust and partnership between Syria and Ukraine to overcome all of the Russian atrocities and violations against both countries. Syria is trying to neutralize itself from Iran and from Russia.

The current war between Iran and the U.S. is a great example of how Syria is now neutral and is preventing support for Hezbollah from Iran. It was the passage and the bridge between Iran and Hezbollah in the past.

Another point here is that there is also a legal implication to what Assad concluded with Russia in the past. The fate of these bases has not only a political view but also a legal view, because Russia had a contractor from the Assad regime for 40 years on one of the military bases, specifically the naval base.

It's a complicated question, but so far, the signs that we have in terms of collaboration with Ukraine and with neutralizing Syria from previous perpetrators, I would say, are good signs for the future.

[Hisyar Ozsoy]

I can just add that although there were some military delegations from Syria to Moscow, we know that the regime will definitely want to somehow diversify foreign policy. I mean, you can't simply just rely on one centre of power. I think that is one thing.

At the same time, Russia does have veto power at the United Nations. When it comes to Syria, it's very important. We are still working within the framework of the resolution of 2015. I think Russia does have some leverage there, and they will definitely want to keep those bases there, given that the eastern Mediterranean is going to be a very important geopolitical location energy-wise and security-wise. For now, I think it is being postponed, that kind of relationship, but once this regional war is over, I think we will see new developments. I don't think Sharaa can somehow simply neutralize Syria from Russia.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills North, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you very much.

Last, we go to MP Kristina Tesser Derksen.

You have five minutes.

[Kristina Tesser Derksen, Liberal, Milton East—Halton Hills South, ON]

Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to everyone for indulging me while I ask a question today as a guest here at the foreign affairs committee.

I was an undergraduate student studying political science when the Arab Spring broke out. I remember following it closely, and we've followed it closely since, as well as the tremendous loss of life and the destruction of infrastructure.

I want to ask Mr. Bonsey about the status of international financial institutions or private investors that might be working on rebuilding infrastructure in Syria, particularly with the concern surrounding opportunists who sometimes pop up when the regulatory environment might be a little unstable, and particularly concerns about corruption and contracts and that sort of thing. Is this something that your group monitors?

[Noah Bonsey]

It's far from my personal expertise, but I would say a couple of things here. One, obviously the removal of most sanctions, as well as the UN terrorist designations and Canadian, U.S. and other terrorist designations, has opened the playing field economically to an extent but not completely. You still have all kinds of obstacles, including that the U.S. still designates Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism, which dates back decades into the Assad regime but remains on the books. We're still talking about a constrained environment.

We should also note, as was mentioned earlier, that rule of law is still very limited. We're in the middle of a transition and a transformation from one regime to a new order. In that environment, I agree that there's plenty of room for, let's say, lack of transparency. This is something that you see Syrian civil society really playing a key role on.

I'll just briefly say on this and on so many other issues that you have a robust role played by a very rich array of Syrian civil society groups who push back on government corruption and push back on all kinds of mistakes and disagreements. This is a reason for hope, I think, moving forward.

[Kristina Tesser Derksen, Liberal, Milton East—Halton Hills South, ON]

Just to follow up quickly, how would you measure progress? There's financial inputs and outputs, but are there other measurable, deliverable types of indicators that you would use to see if infrastructure development is progressing the way it should?

[Noah Bonsey]

You'll see I'm tentative here because I'm not an economist. I think what a lot of Syrians are looking for are very concrete things like the number of hours of electricity, how much that is going up and where, and so on and so forth. I mean, we're talking about a level of destruction to critical infrastructure that is utterly immense, and the recovery will be measured in years, obviously.

[Kristina Tesser Derksen, Liberal, Milton East—Halton Hills South, ON]

Thanks you very much. Those are my questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you very much. That concludes this round of questions.

Thank you so much to all our guests for your appearance before the committee. We will now briefly suspend in order to prepare for the next panel.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

I call the meeting to order.

I would now like to introduce our witnesses for the second hour.

From Islamic Relief Canada, we have Tufail Khan, chief executive officer, joining us by video conference. From the Syrian Canadian Congress, we have Dr. Ayman Al-Yassini, president and founder, who is here in person. From the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations Canada, we have Dr. Anas Al-Kassem, doctor and vice-president.

Welcome. Up to five minutes will be given for opening remarks, after which we will proceed with rounds of questions.

I now invite Mr. Khan to make an opening statement of not more than five minutes. Thank you.

[Tufail Hussain Khan, Chief Executive Officer, Islamic Relief Canada]

Mr. Chair, honourable members of the committee, thank you for the invitation to appear before you today.

My name is Tufail Hussain Khan, and I am the CEO of Islamic Relief Canada. I've been a humanitarian for the past 21 years, and I'm here today to share what we have witnessed on the ground and what we have learned from more than a decade of service in Syria.

Islamic Relief Canada is Canada's third-largest humanitarian and development organization, working in over 40 countries, including some in some of the most complex and fragile contexts. From the outset, I would like to highlight that our mandate is a humanitarian one. We adopt a position of neutrality in the countries where we operate, including Syria. My comments today will be about our mandate and experience, which includes providing life-saving relief and support for development in all affected communities.

We've been present in Syria since 2012, operating from six locations with approximately 130 staff. We serve people based on need, regardless of gender, background or identity. Our teams support communities across religious and ethnic lines. Since the beginning of the conflict, we have reached over one million a year through our water projects and 400,000 a year through our health care interventions. We have distributed over five million food packs a year.

Over the years, staff have faced serious risks to their own lives, exposure to active conflict and incidents such as detention or kidnapping for ransom. We lost two members—one of them in an air strike in 2015. Despite these challenges, our teams continue to deliver aid with the highest degree of care. We currently support over 80 health care facilities, reaching more than 400,000 patients annually while also providing food, water, psychosocial support, livelihoods training and orphan care.

As the political landscape has shifted, sanctions have been lifted and there is progress in Syria. However, the humanitarian situation remains extremely challenging. There is more stability and overall more security, and we have access in order to conduct our work. The situation, though, remains an emergency.

According to UNICEF, 16.5 million people in Syria require humanitarian assistance. While over 800,000 refugees returned last year, return does not mean recovery. Families are coming back to destroyed homes, damaged schools and weakened health systems. We see the crisis evolving rather than ending. Food insecurity remains widespread. Women and children continue to face the most severe consequences of displacement and instability.

From our experience, emergency relief and long-term recovery must happen simultaneously. To achieve this, we engage with local authorities in different ways. First, we engage for project approvals and, where relevant, for the selection of infrastructure to be rehabilitated. Second, we help develop capacity in areas where relief needs to become structural. For instance, in clinics where Islamic Relief was heavily involved, we train local doctors and health agencies to take this on.

We're increasing our focus on infrastructure and essential services, such as health care, water access and community systems, which will benefit hundreds of thousands in the coming years. In 2025, we implemented a project in Aleppo and Idlib supporting over 130,000 women and girls. This included essential medicine and reproductive health care. The project was initially co-funded by GAC, with up to 1.25 million pounds. It was renewed into 2026 with an additional $1 million Canadian in funding for coordinated humanitarian and development efforts.

To do this, as a member of the humanitarian coalition and as an ongoing partner of the Government of Canada and GAC, I have a few recommendations.

Sustained support is critical. First, Syria continues to require long-term humanitarian and development assistance at scale.

Second, recovery must be community-centred and inclusive, ensuring access to essential services such as health care, food, water, education and livelihoods.

Third, we need Canada to continue supporting, protecting and facilitating humanitarian access.

Canada has an important role to play, not only as a donor but as a principled and trusted partner. On this path, Islamic Relief Canada will always stand ready to help.

Thank you. I look forward to your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you very much for your statement.

I now invite Dr. Al-Yassini to make an opening statement of up to five minutes.

[Ayman Al-Yassini, President-Founder, Syrian Canadian Congress]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Honourable members, I'm honoured to be with you today to address the issue of the future of Syria in the context of the recent developments over the past year and a half.

I'm with the Syrian Canadian Congress, a community organization that came into existence slightly over a year ago with the purpose of promoting community engagement, human rights, democratic governance and building bridges between Canada and Syria. The Syrian Canadian diaspora is not recent in the Canadian mosaic. It goes back to the early 20th century, but since 2015, we've seen the expansion and the growth of that community. It has become an active and viable community.

In my address today, I would like to briefly cover a number of areas: one, the historical background; two, domestic and regional challenges; three, areas of fragility; and four, policy recommendations.

The Syrian situation today is one of inherited authoritarian rule, authoritarian domination and control, and an almost failed state. Beginning in 2011, the government's response to popular protests led to widespread destruction, the collapse of the economy, mass displacement and deep structural challenges that complicate the political transition and national reconciliation.

The areas of fragility include slow economic growth, inflation, unemployment and currency devaluation. There is limited governance capacity. Years of authoritarianism led to nothing but the total collapse of good governance. There is also the incomplete and incompetent security sector to forge a common security framework for the country—although some progress has been made in recent months.

As well, there are the minority communities. The Assad regime succeeded in establishing itself and gaining favourable reaction from foreign governments on the grounds that it was the protector of minority communities. That was a major falsehood. Instead of talking about the protection of minority communities, we need to address the issue of protecting the entire community through good governance and democratic values.

The Syrian government of today has made some serious progress in the areas of security, the coordination of the public service and the delivery of some services, but these are limited improvements and need co-operation and collaboration with international providers and partners.

Canada has a role to play in this process. In brief, I would like to make the following policy recommendations.

First, designate a Damascus-based ambassador and embassy to work on the development of the private sector, trade and consular services in the country. The current ambassador in Beirut, who is covering Syria as well, is doing an excellent job within the mandate that is assigned to him and his embassy staff. We need to go one step further and work on the establishment of a Damascus-based embassy.

Second, facilitate private sector engagement by encouraging Canadian businesses to conduct trade and to participate in the reconstruction of Syria.

Third, civil society is an important variable in Syrian society and needs to be supported and assisted.

Fourth, public administration in Syria is in total collapse. Canada has a lot to offer in providing assistance.

Finally, rely on and utilize the Syrian Canadian diaspora in providing services and assisting in the reconstruction of Syria.

Mr. Chair and honourable members, Syria stands at a critical moment. The choices are limited. The choice we make today is either to return to the past of destruction, social conflict and regional instability, or to move forward, judge the government's performance based on deliverables and build a better society. Canada has a long track record in the Middle East, going back to the 1950s. We need to capitalize on that long track record.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you for your statement.

I now invite Dr. Al-Kassem to make an opening statement.

[Dr. Anas Al-Kassem, Doctor and Vice-President, Union of Medical Relief Organizations-Canada]

Thank you, honourable committee chair, distinguished members of the committee, dear colleagues and witnesses.

My name, by the way, is Dr. Anas Al-Kassem. I appear before you as a chairman of the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations, and as a VP of the Canadian office, but also as a Canadian and Syrian surgeon who has personally conducted more than 20 medical missions into Syria during the 14 years of war, the worst man-made disaster, per the UN, since World War II. Even Gaza is not worse than Syria in terms of the numbers, by the way. It's horrible. I've been to Gaza, but Syria has been the worst since World War II.

During these missions, I worked in field hospitals along the borders of Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, and later inside Syria, in Aleppo, Idlib, Raqqa and rural Damascus. The only city I wasn't was able to get into because it was so dangerous for me, personally, was Damascus, my city.

We helped establish hospitals. At Bab Al-Hawa Hospital, one of them at the Turkish border, there were more than 1,500 surgeries being performed on a monthly basis during the war. We also created primary health care centres and the first mental health hospital in northern Syria. I had the honour of initiating the trauma registry in Syria during the war. There were over 200,000 injury cases, with their demographics confirming that 50% of the victims were women and children.

In these field hospitals, I personally treated with a lot of Canadian doctors. I had the honour to go with them to Syria. We treated thousands of patients, but the majority of them were Sunni. The truth is that the Sunni majority paid the heaviest price under the Assad regime, enduring decades of targeted slaughter, bombings and mass detention. Many of these men, women and children—I still remember some of them—died in my hands. I saw first-hand how Assad, Iran and Russia deliberately targeted hospitals, maybe for the first time in modern history, making medical care almost impossible in many areas.

Now, with the regime gone, the priority is ensuring that the minorities feel safe and included, because lasting stability requires healing all wounds, not repeating the cycle of exclusion. While there have been occasional tensions and setbacks, expected in any post-conflict transition, the overall trend—as we heard from many colleagues and witnesses before—has been towards stabilization and inclusive governance.

In January 2026, President al-Sharaa issued presidential decree number 13, restoring full citizenship to Kurds who were stripped of it in 1962, declaring Nowruz a national holiday for the first time in Syrian history, and also launching reconciliation committees for both Alawite and Druze communities.

The new government has been incredibly open to hearing from advocates and humanitarian organizations like ours. I was invited to meet President al-Sharaa in New York during the UN General Assembly in September last year. I also met the Minister for Social Affairs, our friend, a fellow Syrian Canadian, Honourable Mrs. Hind Kabawat. We talked about how our organizations can empower women in health care, expand women's care services and provide psychosocial supports to thousands of vulnerable women and children in Syria. These talks are not just symbolic. The new government is ready to listen and work. Our discussions are resulting in tangible changes.

Dear chair and committee members, as humanitarians, we must shift our focus from short-term aid to long-term development in Syria. Syria cannot build through food aid and mobile clinics alone. We must invest in health care, infrastructure, education, nursing programs, medical training and women's empowerment in health care leadership. This year I also met the Minister of Health, the Honourable al-Ali, to discuss how our organization can support strengthening the fragile Syrian health care system. This is only possible because of the funds that we are able to receive from countries like Germany—through the GIZ—the EU and recently from the GAC in Canada, as we received generous funds for the health care system and humanitarian aid.

This is where Canada can lead and is uniquely positioned to do so. Canada is a pioneer in medical education. I graduated from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada here in Ottawa in 2006. The royal college has been a global leader in competency-based medical education through the innovative CanMEDS framework and the competence by design initiative. This model has served as an inspiration for many countries in the Middle East and elsewhere. We can now transfer this valuable expertise to support the doctors and nurses who suffered for years under the previous Syrian regime.

The next decade will determine whether Syria remains dependent on humanitarian assistance or begins a genuine recovery. Investing in health care and education today will build stability, strengthen communities and support inclusive governance for all Syrians.

I thank the committee and the Government of Canada for their leadership and continued engagement at this historic moment for Syria.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you very much for your statement.

I now open the floor for questions, beginning with MP Kronis.

You have six minutes.