Mr. Speaker, I begin by associating myself with the words of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the member for Ottawa Centre. Like all members of this place, I too was shocked and saddened to hear of the brutal attempt on the life of Malala Yousafzai, the brave young Pakistani woman whose advocacy for access to education, for equality and for human dignity, as my predecessor said, inspires us all.
While deeply saddened, I should perhaps not be shocked. It was not long ago that I rose in this place in remembrance of Shahbaz Bhatti. Pakistan's minority affairs minister was tragically assassinated shortly after his visit to Canada where he met with our international human rights subcommittee. He told us then that he was under standing threats from extremists for his efforts. He was under a fatwa for seeking to protect minority rights and for seeking to repeal the blasphemy laws, which have been used to suppress the Christian minorities and where the mere accusation itself can incite hatred and even death.
In that regard, the House stood together as one to seek the release of Asia Bibi, the Pakistani woman jailed on such false allegations simply for giving someone water.
How tragic it is to see that we still live in a world where terrorists like the Taliban would target a young 15-year-old girl as she is going home from school, just because she believes in her most basic rights and stands up for them.
The Liberal Party joins with all others in this place in praying for Malala's recovery. We trust that the perpetrators of this horrific deed will be brought to justice with all deliberate speed. We condemn in the strongest terms possible the campaign now being waged against her in cyberspace and elsewhere by the Taliban, which seeks to paint this brave young teen, lying in a hospital bed in the U.K., as a spy, as a symbol of the West, as an enemy of Islam and worse.
Malala's vision and values, her courage and commitment, remind us all of that which needs to be done, not only in the struggle against terror and religious extremism, not only against those who would cruelly hijack religion in the name of religion, but also to ensure the equality, the dignity and the free exercise of belief for women in all spheres of life, and particularly in the realm of access to education.
This courageous young woman has become the rallying cry of a nation, the message and metaphor for the struggle for freedom in the most profound sense of the word. Her cause has mobilized her fellow citizens, who are now bravely standing up against the Taliban in common cause, putting their lives on the line in the hopes of a better tomorrow for their children. I share their hope that Pakistan can purge itself of religious extremists, of those who seek to subjugate women, of those who would engage in perhaps the most cowardly and despicable act of all, of attempting to assassinate a child, and are still seeking, as we meet, to assassinate a child.
I have had occasion to meet and work with inspiring women leaders from around the world, such as Massouda Jalal of Afghanistan and Pakistan's Asma Jahangir. I am convinced that countries will only succeed when women's voices are heard, when their fundamental rights are affirmed, when their dignity is respected and when their lives are secure.
May we here in Canada add our voices to those in Pakistan, in the region and around the world, praying for peace, praying for justice and recognizing that indeed we are all Malala.