Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my constituents for the privilege of representing them in Ottawa.
Now I turn the attention of the House to the recent issues surrounding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency responsible for Palestinian refugee camps.
In the midst of controversy last week, UNRWA's head, Peter Hansen, told CBC television:
Oh, I am sure that there are Hamas members on the UNRWA payroll and I don't see that as a crime.
Canada is a significant donor to UNRWA, however we have also banned Hamas' terrorist entity.
I am happy to see that government is concerned about the implications of these statements. I hope we use this week's UNRWA donor conference to call for an independent observer to continually investigate longstanding allegations about the use of UNRWA camps by terrorists.
As Mr. Hansen's comments illustrate, internal monitoring by UNRWA is insufficient to assure Canadians that their dollars are not being indirectly spent to support a terrorist group.