Thank you very much, Chair.
This is a very grave motion that I bring forward to the committee here today, Mr. Chair and committee members, because we all know what happened, but it happened, and we have a choice now. We have a choice to move forward. We can do that. We can choose that today. We can choose to move forward. We can choose to begin the healing of the pain that was caused in the House of Commons last Friday. That healing begins with finding out what happened. How in God's name did this occur?
We in the House are not the only ones left wondering how this happened. Our Jewish brothers and sisters are reeling as to the mere possibility of this event having taken place.
I have here a letter from the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, which states:
The fact that a veteran who served in a Nazi military unit was invited to and given a standing ovation in Parliament is shocking. At a time of rising antisemitism and Holocaust distortion, it is incredibly disturbing to see Canada's Parliament rise to applaud an individual who was a member of a unit in the Waffen-SS, a Nazi military branch responsible for the murder of Jews and others and that was declared a criminal organization during the Nuremberg Trials. There should be no confusion that this unit was responsible for the mass murder of innocent civilians with a level of brutality and malice that is unimaginable.
An apology is owed to every Holocaust survivor and veteran of the Second World War who fought the Nazis,—
I want committee members to listen to this part:
—and an explanation must be provided as to how this individual entered the hallowed halls of Canadian Parliament and received recognition from the Speaker of the House and a standing ovation.
Our Jewish brothers and sisters are reeling at even the possibility of this happening. Those who fought alongside us are wondering if their sacrifices were for naught and their alliances were for naught. The world is wondering how this happened. In the words of my leader, Pierre Poilievre, Canada will have to wear this forever, but we have an opportunity here today and we have an obligation.
Mr. Chair, this horrible thing has happened, and we can't change what happened. We can't change it even if we want to change it, but we have an opportunity and an obligation for this, by God, to never, ever happen again. I encourage every single member of this committee to consider what it means to deny the opportunity to Canadians, to Holocaust survivors, and to the world to find out what happened.
I don't want to hear excuses. I don't want to hear that the Speaker should be on the list, because—guess what—we can add the Speaker to the list. We can amend the list of agencies I put forward to add the Speaker to the list. I have no problem at all. I would actually be very interested in hearing from the former Speaker as to what vetting processes he and his staff went through for this tragedy to occur.
I'm hearing excuses such as that it should go through the procedure and House affairs committee. The House procedure committee is currently seized with foreign interference as a result of the House of Commons asking to look into it. It is seized with that right now. The government operations committee has the flexibility and the ability to be nimble, to look at any issue when it is pressing and to immediately turn our resources, energies and efforts to do that, and we should do so in this case, which has brought embarrassment not only to Canada but throughout the entire world, so I don't want to hear excuses. I am asking everyone here today. We have an opportunity to begin to move forward to start the healing, and we can make that choice. Every single one of us on this committee can make this choice today to start that healing process, Mr. Chair.
With that, I'd like to read my motion into the record:
Given the international embarrassment created by the Liberal Government by allowing a former soldier of a Nazi military unit in World War II to attend and be recognized during the President of Ukraine’s special address to Parliament on Friday, September 22, and that proper vetting was either not done or this individual's military record was ignored, the committee dedicate 6 meetings holding hearings to look into this matter, and the committee hear witness testimony from representatives of the following: Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (Diplomatic Protocol); Royal Canadian Mounted Police; Canadian Security Intelligence Service; Parliamentary Protective Service; House of Commons (Sergeant at Arms); House of Commons (International and Interparliamentary Affairs); Privy Council Office; Prime Minister's Office.
Mr. Chair, I will leave my motion there. The world is watching. We have the opportunity today, every single one of us on this committee, to make the choice to start the healing process and to find out exactly, precisely, what happened so that it never, ever happens again.
Thank you.