Madam Chairman, I rise today to join with all Canadians who are still in a state of shock and who are trying to deal with the overwhelming feelings of anger, pain and rage that we all share.
In crafting a message for our Prime Minister to deliver to President Bush, I want to begin that by reaffirming that the New Democratic Party joins with citizens around the world in demanding that the perpetrators of the heinous crimes be tracked down and punished. However the NDP caucus also calls for reflection and restraint in our response.
Today I want to reinforce the plea that the same values that cause us to be outraged and repulsed by these acts of barbarity must guide us all as well, and particularly guide world leaders in their response. I believe that our Prime Minister, on behalf of all Canadians who share those sentiments, rose to the occasion and provided very sound counsel and advice in his immediate reaction to the tragedy.
In these extremely dangerous times it is essential that we reaffirm our commitment to pursuing peaceful solutions to the tensions and the hostilities that breed such mindless violence in the world.
In the immediate aftermath of the horrific death and destruction, people understandably were driven to demand instant, massive military retaliation to these terrorist atrocities. However, as freedom loving citizens have grasped the complexity and the magnitude of what happened, the imperative of a more measured response, a more multilateral response and a more informed response must form the basis of our actions.
“Not to respond would be unthinkable: It would diminish and demean American leadership and it would surely invite further attacks” wrote Charles G. Boyd, a retired air force general, in Wednesday's Washington Post . “But to react excessively or inaccurately” he wrote, “would put us on the same moral footing as the cowards who perpetrated yesterday's attack”.
Canadians know that we have a very special relationship with the United States of America and that we value that relationship with our neighbour to the south, but we also have a very special role internationally. If there was ever a time that both our neighbours to the south and the world needed to hear the voice of Canada, it is now.
Our neighbours were thrown into a state of shock last week. As the depth and the breadth of personal tragedies come to grip their collective soul, the cry for vengeance from many quarters will surely grow louder. As America's closest neighbour and friend, we owe it to them to listen and to support them but we also must give them the benefit of our understanding of the events. A true friend lends a guiding hand when someone is blinded by grief and rage.
The cry from America today and from around the world is that this can never be allowed to happen again. We must resolve to see that this can never happen again, but if we pursue the path of blind vengeance, the path of the clenched fist, we are guaranteeing that this will happen again. Military strikes, while they may satisfy an understandable desire for vengeance, will solve nothing if thousands or more innocent people are victimized in some other part of the world.
We are not advocating absolute pacifism or appeasement in the face of aggression. The international community must spare no effort to bring to justice all those responsible for these atrocities and to rid the world of the scourge of terrorism.
If the initial assumptions of culpability and inspiration about this attack are true and this is the latest gruesome chapter of an ever expanding cycle of violence that has already claimed cities, countries, and whole generations, then how does it increase our security to bomb countries into the stone age? In the case of Afghanistan someone else already beat us to it.
I would like to address the very disturbing developments over the course of the past week where visible minorities have been targeted by people looking for scapegoats both here in Canada and abroad. Other leaders have addressed the issue as well.
An ugly and horrifying incident occurred in the fire bombing of a mosque in Montreal. There was an incident even closer to home of an Arab youth who was beaten and put in the hospital in the city of Montreal.
The Canadian Council for Refugees, in a statement of September 14, wisely reminded us that many Canadians came to this country to escape from violence and persecution on the basis of religion, race and nationality.
Refugees and immigrants are as horrified as anyone by the events and they condemn this violence. Canadians need to work to ensure our country is a haven from hatred and any kind of discrimination.
In the coming days we will hear more arguments that we need to re-examine our immigration laws and policies. The NDP caucus firmly disagrees that we must harmonize our immigration with the United States. We also reject out of hand a perimeter concept of our international security obligations.
As we debate this issue, we invite all members of the House to remember that their words and their passion can excite and they can have very real repercussions on the many new Canadians and visible minorities that make up the diversity of this country. We call upon them to be responsible in their comments.
It is reassuring to us that so many voices have been heard, political leaders, community leaders and ordinary citizens, counselling against doing anything to create a backlash and to create prejudicial attitudes and actions directed toward innocent Canadians.
With this message let us extend that same concern and consideration to other countries, such as the U.S.A. If we are absolutely in agreement that we must stand against any scapegoating of innocent civilians in our own country, then surely the same consideration and concern has to be extended to innocent civilians around the world.
Canada must be a leader in searching out solutions other than an eye for an eye. We need to call upon our earlier traditions of having a more independent foreign policy. We need to always think in terms of multilateralism. We need to use our special relationship with the United States to represent all progressive and peace loving countries that want to build lasting solutions to the conditions that breed such horrendous violence.
We can surely do no better than to heed the words of John F. Kennedy when he stated that those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable.
I appreciate this opportunity to add our points of view for the Prime Minister as he communicates a Canadian message to the President of the United States.