Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to the crisis in the Philippines.
This was an unfortunate and tragic event. Typhoon Haiyan hit hard, and everything we are talking about this evening has to do with helping Filipinos.
I will try to take partisanship out of this as much as possible, and I want to commend the government's actions to help the people of the Philippines through the financial assistance people have mentioned. The government has promised that it will match Canadians' donations to recognized charities dollar for dollar.
I am of Vietnamese origin and I have been particularly moved by this situation. The Philippines holds a special place in my heart. I used to work in Asia, and have been to Manila, in the Philippines. I also vacationed in the Philippines and took diving lessons there. That is the first place I learned to dive. I have tangible and very real ties to the country.
The Filipino community living in Canada is so close. It has tremendously good values when we talk about family and support. That is something with which I am always impressed.
I remember a couple of events in my riding. When we celebrated Valentine's Day, that was an occasion for me to actually see the culture and how they celebrated. There is a love of life that is tremendously strong. That is why my heart goes out to the people in the Philippines and also their families living in Canada which are going through tragic and difficult times right now.
I want to tell them that Canada is behind them. We are working together, all parties, the government and opposition, to try to help people in the Philippines move forward.
I definitely want to mention, for instance, what is happening in my riding of Brossard—La Prairie. On November 23, which is this coming Saturday, there will be a fundraising brunch for the benefit of the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, organized by the Filipino Canadian community of the south shore. It is a community I work with a lot. It is organizing it at Good Shepherd Church community hall at 7900 Naples Street in Brossard. I obviously will be there. There will be three servings. One is at 8 o'clock in the morning, 9:30 a.m. and I think the last one is at 11 a.m.
Hopefully we will work together to try to find other ways to bring the community together. It is all communities, not just the Filipino community, not just the Asian community, but all Canadians together, so we can actually raise a lot of funds to help people in the Philippines.
This type of help is short term. Obviously there are so many things we need to do. A lot of people here have seen some of the coverage and images and they are haunting. We need to work together to change things and make things better for the people in the Philippines.
The government has acted quickly, but there will be some challenges ahead.
The government has stated that it will take some measures, including some related to immigration. Once again, I do not wish to be too partisan in this case, but I hope that the government will do more than it promised in terms of family reunification in particular.
In my office in Brossard—La Prairie, we have had many problems with wait times in the past. Since I was elected two years ago, wait times for visas and other things have gotten longer.
We have heard the government's promises and, with all my heart, I really hope that they will take shape, that concrete action will be taken to help people come here and to help people over there. Money is certainly important for short-term and medium-term reconstruction. However, we then have to make sure that long-term measures are in place.
When we see the extent of the destruction, we certainly think about everything that must be done to rebuild. Unfortunately, it also makes us think about what happened in Haiti. The international community came together. I am very proud that Canada showed initiative and rose to that occasion.
I want to highlight the generosity of Canadians in general. Canadians from every part of the country have come together to help the people of the Philippines. I repeat that it is very important for people to make sure that the money goes to government-recognized charities so that the government can make a matching contribution. We also have to come up with long-term solutions.
Clearly, in the case of the Philippines, the biggest typhoon in a long time is a direct consequence of climate change.
I will mention an article that came out today in the CBC News. It talks about the impact that the Philippines specifically is suffering because of climate change. The article is titled, “Philippines vulnerable to climate change, consul general says”, and that is the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto.
The article notes that the Philippines is very vulnerable to typhoons and the destruction has slowed down its economy.
If we want to help other countries, we have to take our role seriously. One of the things we have to do is combat climate change. It is very important, and I am not just saying that as a partisan issue.
I will quote from the article, which says:
A Philippine official launched a hunger strike last week to pressure a UN climate change conference to come up with concrete steps to fight global warming. Naderev Sano, a member of the Philippine Climate Change Commission, told the Washington Times he was fasting “in solidarity with my countrymen who are now struggling for food back home”—including his own brother, whom Sano said “has been gathering bodies of the dead with his own two hands.”
It is real. It is happening and we have to do something about it.
One of the reasons I came into politics, became a member and got involved, was because of climate change. We need to protect the environment, and this is a consequence of what is happening globally.
I read another report that came out of Europe that said Canada had the worst climate change policy in the industrialized world. We came in 55th out of 58 countries, and that is very shameful. I think the three last countries were Iran, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia. This makes us think of how we move forward.
We need to think about the future, but of course we also need to react immediately. Once again, I tip my hat to the government for acting quickly. I hope that in the medium term, the government will look at everything related to immigration, aid to people in the Philippines and rebuilding.
The hon. member for Ottawa Centre spoke about cash for work programs. Investment is needed so that the people in the Philippines can rebuild their country themselves. We need to help them do that. We also need to have a long-term vision for what we can do. That is the most important issue.
When people talk about climate change, among other things, it is important to take action. I hope that is what the government will do.
I do not want to be partisan in this debate. Our sincere thoughts are with the people in the Philippines. I am very pleased that we can discuss what we can do and what we can improve to help the people of the Philippines.
I need to tell the Filipino community in Brossard—La Prairie that I am very proud of the work they do and that I will continue working with them.