Mr. Chairman, I am participating tonight in this take note debate on the action that parliament and the Government of Canada should be taking in regard to international terrorism. Certainly the events of September 11 have been described by many members and by people around the world as a horrific, terrible act of terrorism that everyone wishes had not taken place. The fact of the matter is that it did take place and we now have to deal with it.
I do not want to cover ground tonight in my comments that other members have covered. I will try to add something new and with a slightly different perspective.
This act of terrorism on September 11 was not the start of international terrorism. It is being debated as if all of a sudden there was this new event of international terrorism that happened and now we have to take this immediate strong action to do something about it.
The fact of the matter is that terrorism has been around as long as mankind has been around and terrorism by religious extremists in other countries has been in place in recent years and has been noted most accurately, I believe, in Europe, England and France for instance where they have been subject to these terrorist attacks that North America is now receiving.
I am a bit amazed that the Liberal government is only now taking the aggressive action to combat terrorism when it should have been taking action as the intelligence came in to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, to CSIS, to our customs agencies and to the military. Instead, I assume this information was essentially ignored because we did not take the action necessary to deal with the terrorism crisis that we now find ourselves in.
The Canadian Alliance and myself will be supporting in full measure the government's efforts to pass the legislation and take the action required to now deal with the terrorism in which North America finds itself. Canadians could well be, and the likelihood is high that it will be, attacked by terrorist acts in the future.
Our current foreign affairs minister made a speech tonight and I would like to comment on a couple of his statements. While we support the government's action, we also have to illicit information and ensure that all ideas are explored.
One of his statements, which of course can be corrected from the Hansard record, was that safety and security was a priority as it has always been with regard to security for Canadians. When we see the military not having sufficient personnel, equipment or the resources to fully do the job, that is not always taking care of Canadian security as the minister indicated.
The minister's second statement was very interesting. He said that we are to destroy evil. This may be a bit of a euphemism but war is about killing our enemy. The United States has used that terminology and our Prime Minister has used that terminology. We are in a war.
In a war, deaths occur as we saw from the attack on the World Trade Center in the United States and which we may well see in Canada if a terrorist act is committed against us. When the foreign affairs minister talks about destroying evil, I assume he is going as far as to say that those who commit those acts should be destroyed.
At some point the government will have to deal with the idea of either extraditing a terrorist who has committed a murder or a killing in other countries, or dealing with a terrorist who killed inside Canada. If that happens, and I pray to God it does not, it will bring up the issue of capital punishment in Canada again. It may well be that in a war the Canadian population will strongly support the return of capital punishment for terrorist acts.
In the last couple of years as a member of parliament I have had the opportunity to speak to people in the constituency, some of whom gave very wise advice on the issues of Palestine and the Middle East and those seemingly intractable problems.
I have had occasion to speak to Pastor Henry Ozirney and to Pastor Glenn Miller of the New Life Baptist Church in Stonewall in my riding. I have talked to Barry Rasmussen of the Lutheran Church in my area. I have also spoken to Catholic priests and others over the years on moral issues. They have given me the background and confirmed that the issues of Palestine go back a long way, back to I suppose a common factor of the Prophet Abraham and how the lands of the Palestinians were seemingly interpreted to have been given to both the Muslim people and to the Jewish people. The conflict and dispute over that land continues to this very day and it has to be kept in context.
Osama bin Laden has said that until the issue of Palestine is settled and Arafat and the people of Palestine on the Arab side are fully satisfied there will be no peace for America, for the western world or for the Jews. In essence, what Osama bin Laden and terrorists like him are saying is that they will not be satisfied until every Jewish person and North American is dead. These are people we would call terrorists. It is not part of the Islamic religion. The Islamic congress has stated in its pamphlets that it hands out that the concept of holy war, even the phrase sacrum bellum, does not exist in Islam. I would hope the media and others forget about that particular concept.
The September 11 attack was an act of terrorism committed by criminals. It was not a religious event and was not based on religion. The terrorists are misusing the Islamic religion and, if they need to, they will misuse the Christian and other religions. To them religion is not the issue. The death and destruction of our way of life is what this is all about.
We support the solutions the government is coming up with but the solutions must be of a two prong nature. First, we do have to work toward creating a better world. This would include humanitarian aid not only to Afghanistan but to other countries. It would also include addressing so-called social ills and trying to raise the well-being and living standards of people around the world. However, we also need physical security and physical security for Canada means having a fully staffed and competent military, and an intelligence gathering unit like CSIS that is fully equipped and ready and capable to do the job.
The issue of bioterrorism in Canada as it relates to agriculture is of utmost important. The reports that came out of the solicitor general's office indicated quite clearly that in fact Canada was not prepared for a bioterrorism act against our livestock industry or other agriculture industries. It is of utmost importance that the government have a plan for not only these massive military issues but also for the protection and the ability to contain bioterrorism in Canada.
In conclusion, I want to commend our armed forces men and women who are serving our country so well right now. I also would like to ensure that every member of the House in their November 11 statements and during their attendance at November 11 ceremonies say a special prayer for our armed forces overseas.