Madam Speaker, as I speak, Ekrem Kolay is wasting away outside Canada Place in Edmonton. He has been on a hunger strike for 15 days to bring this government's attention to the imprisonment of Leyla Zana, a mother of two and a celebrated former member of the Turkish parliament.
Leyla Zana was imprisoned for standing up for the wishes of her constituents, for speaking out against human rights violations in Turkey when very few others had the courage to do so.
Amnesty International, British parliamentarians, members of the U.S. Congress, the Canadian Labour Congress, the Alberta Federation of Labour, members of the provincial and federal NDP, and local Edmonton churches and businesses have all joined Ekrem Kolay in his campaign to free Leyla Zana.
Ekrem Kolay is waiting for just one more person to join his struggle before he promises to eat his first meal. The Minister of Foreign Affairs is now the only man who can decide whether my constituent eats or continues to slowly starve.