Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to have an opportunity to participate in this take note debate.
Many people have said it here this evening and in debates in the past several weeks, but indeed the world has changed dramatically since September 11. There are important decisions that have been made and important decisions that need to be made. I am pleased that in this debate and others that have taken place since September 11 parliament is having an opportunity on behalf of Canadians to provide input. It is important that we have these debates. It is important that we consider the options that are laid out before us and that we have an opportunity as parliamentarians, on behalf of Canadians, to have these types of discussions.
Over the last several weeks I have had an opportunity through letters, through attending events in my riding and through telephone conversations to talk to a large number of constituents about the events of September 11 and those things that have flowed from those events.
This past Saturday I had an opportunity to hold a town hall meeting in my riding with a number of constituents who came together to talk about the issues that we as parliamentarians are talking about here this evening. I want to take a moment to thank all of those constituents who participated not only in that town hall but who have provided their input to me regarding their views on what has taken place and on what we need to do as a government and as parliament to respond to those events.
I promised my constituents at that town hall that I would speak to the issues they raised and talk a little about them here this evening.
In essence, my constituents' input can be divided into two broad categories. First they identified what they felt were some important priorities that the government needed to be seized with, that we as parliamentarians needed to be seized with. Second, they also took the time to talk about some important principles needed to govern whatever specific actions we would undertake as a government and as a country.
In terms of government priorities, constituents classified things into three general categories. The first priority would be something that we called capture and justice. That is a direct result of the events of September 11. I believe we all remain shocked at what we saw happen that day. Our hearts continue to go out to the victims and to all of the people who are directly responding to that in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington. Constituents made it very clear that there is no justification for what took place, no political justification, no diplomatic justification, no righting of past wrongs. What we saw take place on September 11 was, simply put, a mass murder of 5,000 plus innocent people. My constituents and all Canadians, I believe, very strongly feel the need to seek out those who are responsible for this horrendous crime and to ensure that justice is done in this respect.
We talked about some of the things that have transpired since then in terms of bringing these perpetrators to justice. We talked about NATO and article 5. We talked about the integration of our security forces with those of the Americans and our other allies. We talked about the seizing of financial assets and the importance of that in terms of stopping acts of terrorism.
My constituents very clearly addressed the government's decision to commit our military forces to the coalition to work toward the capture of bin Laden, his organization and other terrorist organizations throughout the world. To be quite honest, although there was not an absolute unanimity, a very clear majority of constituents said that it is appropriate to commit the Canadian military to this endeavour.
In terms of continuing our priorities, the second one was the issue of personal security. There really is no more direct mandate for a government than to provide for the security of its citizens. It is critically important to ensure that our citizens are able to go about living their daily lives with a normal routine. To have anything other than that would mean a victory for the terrorists.
Constituents talked about the establishment of the security committee in cabinet and the $280 million of new funding that has been committed. Indeed, today we saw another step go forward with the tabling of new anti-terrorism legislation that will provide additional tools to ensure the security of individual Canadians.
As a third priority, constituents talked about the need to secure our borders. As the minister of immigration has said, we need to ensure that we firmly close the back door to illegal entries into Canada so that those whose past behaviour does not warrant them being accepted into Canada are kept out. It will ensure that we can keep open the front door to immigration for people who have over the history of the country come to Canada and added to the fabric of this nation.
Constituents also talk about the need to strengthen the interdiction and security at our borders not only for security reasons but obviously for economic reasons. We need integrity at our border.
Beyond priorities, constituents talked about the principles that we need to follow as a government. Simply put, there are three very important principles. First, although they recognize the need to work closely with Americans and with our allies, we need to do it in a way that does not sacrifice Canadian sovereignty.
Second, we need to remember clearly the need to strike the balance between collective security and individual rights, and that we should not destroy the very values that mark Canada as a democracy in our actions to defend it.
Third, we must remember that when we win the campaign against terrorism, and we will, we must be prepared to continue our historic efforts to address issues that contribute to the improvement and well-being of the lives of Canadians and indeed all citizens of the world.
Since September 11, Canadians and Canada have faced new and difficult challenges. I believe Canadians have done a good job in facing those challenges. I believe that parliament, through its debates and suggestions from all sides of the House, has done a good job. I believe the government is doing a good job in responding to the issues in terms of our military commitment, our new legislative initiatives and our new security initiatives.
There is much more to be done. There are many steps along the road to ensuring the security of our nation and to ensuring that we bring to justice those who perpetrated that very terrible crime. We will do these things and we will do them because we are united as a country and as a people. Canada is a great country and Canadians are a great people.
In closing, I will offer a refrain that God watch over our military personnel, the men and women who in the days ahead may find themselves in harm's way.