Madam Speaker, the official opposition joins the government in giving its unanimous support to the motion tabled by the Secretary of State for Veterans. Fifty years have passed since the end of World War II, a war the likes of which this small planet had never seen before. We had to recognize that neither modern institutions nor the new technologies had helped us achieve peace on this earth.
Toward the end of that great war, the whole world was horrified to discover the existence of concentration camps, an inhumane, cruel and barbaric practice. No words exist to describe this atrocity and express our revulsion towards such a monstrous scheme. There is no excuse whatsoever for concentration camps.
Millions of men, women and children perished under the yoke of tyranny. They could only hope that other countries would rise up and fight in the name of liberty and justice. That is the effort
in which Canada took part. We and our descendants will never forget the valour and courage of those soldiers. It is our duty to ensure that these defenders of freedom will always be present in our collective memory.
The collapse of the Third Reich revealed to the world the largest extermination effort in history. Millions died in the concentration camps set up by the Nazis in occupied Europe, in their electrified barbed wire enclosures, blockhouses, underground factories, experimental rooms, gas chambers and herding areas. Thousands of convoys led victims on the road to hell.
This planned destruction effort was carried out relentlessly until just before surrender. Those convoys let to the internment and slaughter of innocents. Arrival in camp often meant death pure and simple or an even worse fate: forced labour contributing to death. It was a tragedy to witness the torture and slow agony of one's neighbour or be subjected to the same treatment. Malnutrition and illness led to a point of no return, to an exit from life. It is our duty to take a moment to imagine what concentration camps were like, to better understand how crucial it is that we remain steadfast in our firm commitment never to tolerate crimes against humanity.
Fifty years ago today, trucks of the International Red Cross drove into certain concentration camps, marking the end of this hell on earth. Torturers fled. Today, 50 years later, it is our duty to look at this tragedy as if it had happened just yesterday to our relatives, children and parents, so that we never fall victim of such madness. However-sadly for humanity-genocides and organized exterminations continue. Last year, more than one million Rwandans perished in a carefully planned genocide and, to this day, those responsible for this crime go unpunished.
More recently, the slaughter of thousands of Hutu refugees by the Rwandan Army at the Kibeho camp amounted to carnage. The international community witnessed acts of unspeakable cruelty in Bosnia, where ethnic cleansing was systematically carried out. Such events make us wonder whether humanity has learned anything from the lesson we were taught by history.
We must ensure that this kind of massacres among inhabitants of this planet stop. We must remain hopeful that, one day, we will all live in peace, free from these inhuman acts. To commemorate the liberation of Nazi concentration camps is, of course, to pay our respects to the victims, but also pay tribute to all the men and women of this country who made that liberation possible, our veterans, who deserve more than our admiration. We owe them support, particularly when they paid with their health. I hope that this government will take this opportunity to ponder over the way veterans are treated. We cannot renege on our promise to them.
Nor can we afford to relax our vigilance, lest atrocities like those committed in Nazi concentration camps be committed again. Such is the implacable lesson taught by history, a lesson that we must in turn teach our children, so that we never forget. The Bloc Quebecois, for its part, undertakes to do all it can to ensure that this knowledge remains in our collective memory. Together, let us keep this hope alive.