Debates of May 7th, 2013

Situation in Syria

[Jim Karygiannis, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I sat quietly and I listened to my colleague, so my challenge to you as well as the committee is that I would like for you please to look at the blues and come back and rule if I was heckling the member, yes or no.

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will just respond to the question because I am not going to engage in this kind of childish behaviour with the hon. member opposite.

I did not refer to the skilled worker program. I was referring to those families who actually are in need. We have increased staffing capacity in both Beirut and Amman. We are processing applications as fast as we can to try to reunify those families. It is a very difficult situation. As members can well appreciate, there are tens of thousands of people who have lost their lives. It is a very sensitive situation. We are very aware of that. We are working very closely with our officials on the ground and under the leadership of our Minister of Foreign Affairs and our Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. This is a situation that is of priority for us.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I can attest that, personally working for Syrian members of my community, I have been so relieved to have two husbands come to their wives in Canada and to see an increase in staffing in Amman, Jordan. I am personally aware of that, but I definitely agree with the minister in his speech that we are not doing enough yet.

I am hearing reports from Syrians who are trying to get an appointment with the embassy in Lebanon, but the local staff, the guards around our embassy, treat them disrespectfully and do not let them get to the door. It is a conflict situation, and the other misconception is that the refugee camps are run by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. They are not; they are run by the host countries. Once people are there as refugees, they are still afraid. Some of them are so afraid that they are not prepared to go to the Red Crescent or the Red Cross to report in, so that they can be recorded.

It is a difficult situation. I am not saying it is easy, but we are not doing enough to reunite some of the people who still could be brought home to their families in Canada.

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for her question and her concern. It is always good to look internally and believe that we can be doing more. This is something on which we are very, very focused. It is a priority for us. We know we are dealing with real people here in very difficult situations. I can appreciate and attest to some of the comments that the hon. member made, but it is something that is, as I stated previously, of primary concern to our government and we are focusing on it on a full-time basis.

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is actually quite heartbreaking to get up and take part in such a debate. As parliamentarians, I am sure that on all sides of the House, we would rather debate a thousand other things than the terrible situation in Syria.

Just to remind us all, 70,000 have died in Syria during this conflict. More than a million have been displaced. That is such a huge number.

I am one of those fortunate people who have never lived in a war zone. I was born post-World War II. I grew up in England and came to Canada in the 1970s. I have never lived in a situation where the country I was living in actually had battles and bombings going on all around me. I can really say that the closest I have come to being in something that looked like a war zone was when I was in Bangladesh recently. When I turned on the TV, I saw that in the area we had left just hours before cars were being turned over and set on fire, and bombs were going off. I can remember feeling the anxiety, thinking this had happened where I had just walked.

Right now, my heart goes out to the hundreds and thousands of the Syrian diaspora who live right here in Canada, a safe country. What they do is watch what is going on in Syria on television and through social media. I think about the pain and anguish they must live through every single day.

When we watch it on TV and when we hear about the escalation of violence and the use of chemical weapons and that there are events that could lead to a spread of this conflict to surrounding nations, we quake. I do. I get really worried about world security and about our children and grandchildren.

Then I ask myself how I would feel and what I would be thinking if it was my family members and my friends, the people I grew up with, who were in Syria right now.

It is such a messy situation over there. There is the status quo of the ruling regime, led by Mr. Assad, and then there are a variety of groups fighting in opposition. It always reminds me that there are those who fight and those who suffer. I am not saying that the ones who are involved in fighting are not suffering, but I am thinking of all the men, women and children who never chose this conflict. They did not decide or have any say whether this conflict should be happening in their homeland or not.

These are the families where the children just wanted to get up in the morning and go to school, or most of them did. They are the same families where the mothers wanted to cook meals and make sure their families were looked after. The families thought about the work they did, whether they worked for somebody else or were involved in agriculture or any of the other businesses. They are just normal families who wanted to get along with everyday normal tasks.

What happened? They woke up one morning and there was a conflict in their homeland.

It is not new to this part of the world, but its not being new does not make it more acceptable. I know it was contained in the beginning, but the way this civil war, if that is what we are calling it, has spread has been devastating. I cannot imagine too many communities in Syria being left untouched.

In the same way, I want to say to all the families of Syrian descent who live right here in our country that my heart goes out to them. I can only imagine the kind of anguish they go through day in and day out, because I have never experienced it.

Today I phoned my office and asked for an update on a particular case involving a Syrian family. I am not going to use anyone's name. The mom and baby are in Syria, and the father is over here.

The baby is a newborn, and the family is waiting for the baby's medical. While they are waiting for the medical, they are going through the anguish of trying to get to the closest visa office. They tell of the dangers that they will experience on the way. They would love to have a visa, even a tourist visa, to come over in the meantime, but their biggest problem is that travel is not safe, and there is no visa or consular office in Syria itself. The family will have to cross an international boundary; travel documents are needed for that, and not everybody has travel documents. If people do not have them, then they are stuck. They will have to get hold of somebody who will give them the travel documents they need.

Family members of this young man have been visiting my office on a regular basis. They heard the announcements that the government made about looking at ways to speed up reunification, especially for spouses who were separated. My colleague across the way said much work has been done and most of these people have been reunited, but many of the cases I deal with in my office are not unique. Right across Canada, there are many like the one I mentioned. My colleague across the way mentioned that he has not had any Syrians or relatives of people in Syria speak to him about the dire situation and the fear they live in, but I cannot imagine that he has not had anyone speak to him.

I want to talk about the role of the diaspora. Some people of Syrian descent have become Canadian citizens, while others are en route to becoming citizens. Some of Syrian descent have been born here. This is their home. These people are not asking for much. Under the family reunification class, these family members would actually qualify to come to Canada. We applied on their behalf long before there was any kind of freeze, and all we are asking right now is for those people to be expedited so they can get out of a very dangerous situation.

They have met with some officials who told them that it is dangerous everywhere in the area. One person was told he was in no more danger than the rest of the Syrians. That brings little comfort to the Canadian families over here.

Our officers overseas are doing their very best. Offices have been closed, consular services are not available and the few offices that are open in the Middle East area are being bombarded with requests. I admire these people for the work they do, but we really need to look at systems we can put in place to accelerate those who are already in the system, those who have applied.

To that effect, earlier in this session the opposition moved a motion that was unanimously supported in the House. The government agreed with the motion, which called on the government to support the peace-building efforts in Syria by making new financial contributions to the work of the UN-Arab League joint special envoy, Mr. Brahimi.

That was number one. Second was to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to address the growing refugee crisis in Syria. At no time have we ever said that all of those refugees can be taken in by Canada. What we have asked for is emergency humanitarian assistance.

That is what the House asked for, by the way, not the NDP, even though it came from the NDP. I am very proud of the work done by the official opposition's critic of foreign affairs, the member for Ottawa Centre.

Also, we want to expedite the process of family reunification for Syrians who have family members in Canada. That is the bit that is very confusing for the Syrian diaspora. They are not asking for the doors to be opened. All they are asking for is that family reunification be accelerated for those who have families who are in a state of war.

If I were in their situation, I would want exactly the same. I think my colleagues across the aisle would agree that if they had family members, a parent, a younger brother, a spouse, or their own children, in Syria today, and they were Canadian citizens, they would want to be reunited with them and have them brought to a safe place. That is something very tangible. That is something very doable that we can address. I would urge the government to take action on that particular component.

In Canada, especially from the government side, we always hear about how important the family is, not once, but over and over again, and I agree. I come from an extended family. I have four brothers and a sister, and nephews, nieces, aunts and uncles. I love my extended family. I really believe in the strength of the family unit.

However, if we believe in families being together and the strength of the family for ourselves, then surely that is what we want for those who are separated from their families, not while their family members are carrying on with their everyday tasks—to be separated under those circumstances is painful enough—I want each and every one of us in this House to imagine the agony these Canadian families, or those who live in Canada of Syrian descent, are going through day in and day out.

In my riding of Newton—North Delta, we have had a series of unfortunate shootings. This was very tragic for our community. I can tell members that whenever we hear that there has a been a gunshot in Surrey, if we have children, and even if we do not, we shake. I can remember that there was a time I would get up, even though I lived in Vancouver, to make sure my son was in his bedroom, just because I had heard of another shooting.That is how parents feel. That is how we feel about the people we love. That was only a shooting that happened in downtown Vancouver somewhere.

Here we are talking about violence day in and day out that is escalating. Now we are hearing stories of chemicals. We are also hearing stories of possibly increased conflict with bordering countries. We are also hearing from the bordering countries about the extra pressure on them as well. It is because of this that we absolutely have to do something around family reunification.

We also have to take a look at providing more humanitarian aid. Canadians have huge hearts. I can remember the disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina and how Canadians not not only cried and poured out their hearts, but they also donated like one could not believe.

When we had the earthquake in Haiti, it was the same, and the government stepped in and put in some matching dollars. I would argue that we have a huge crisis happening in the refugee camps in and around Syria, and I would say that this is the time for us to consider taking similar types of action.

I am a great believer in peace and the role Canada has played historically as a peacekeeper. I believe we have a diplomatic role to play as well. Unfortunately for us, and I am not going to point any fingers today, we no longer have a seat at the United Nations Security Council. Because of some of the actions we have taken over the last couple of years, we no longer have the same kind of standing with a lot of our international partners.

However, our current government has a very close relationship with China, and I am hoping that the Conservatives are using all of the diplomacy they are capable of to press China to intervene and help to move toward peace in Syria. I am also hoping that we are using our connections in Russia to do that as well, and with other people over whom we still have some influence.

When we disrespect some of the institutions at the United Nations, and we call into question the credibility of a rapporteur who would dare to come to Canada and make a comment on our aboriginal communities and the way those people they live and about food security for them, and when we have those reactions, it puts our credibility at risk when we go to talk to people and try to find allies, because suddenly the world is looking at Canada in a slightly different way.

There is still time. I do not think we have gone so far down the road that we cannot reverse and become that peace-loving and peacekeeping nation again. There is an opportunity in this case here, for the government to pull out all the diplomatic skills it can muster, to call in all the favours it may still have with people out there, to work toward finding a peaceful resolution. It is not going to come quickly. There are no easy fixes here, but the only thing we can do and the only thing that is left to us is to try to find people who will talk, because we are no longer on the inside. When we were on the Security Council, we were actually on the inside and had knowledge of what was going on, and people looked to us. Now we're in the outhouse; we are on the outside. When we are on the outside, we have to rebuild our credibility and we have to go and try to see what we can achieve.

This comment was made by Gulcan Akoguz, chargé d'affaires at the Turkish embassy. She said:

...we feel that Turkey's open door policy is actually absorbing the potential international reaction, since the tragic consequences of the brutality by the Syrian regime are all tackled by the neighbouring countries. What we expect from our partners is a serious engagement and meaningful contribution in sharing this burden.

This is not a country that is saying we want to shut our doors. This is a country that recognizes its humanitarian obligations, and all it is doing as it is calling out to the world is asking for some assistance with that and asking for a sharing of that burden, and that burden can be shared in many different ways.

There is the Red Cross, as well, and I could go on for another half hour.

I will end with this. We call upon the government to look at speeding up family reunification and providing humanitarian aid so that we can help countries like Turkey and others that are caught in the conflict.

As well, I would urge the government to sit down and have meetings with representatives of the diaspora so that we can find a way forward.

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed to hear the NDP once again talking Canada down when we have been at the forefront of humanitarian assistance in the Syrian crisis. In fact, the Minister of International Cooperation attended a funding conference in January and pledged even more Canadian money.

Canada is up to date on all of its contribution payments. However, we know that only 3% of all of the money that has been pledged has actually been paid. Canada is leading the way on paying our pledges.

I wonder if the member has any suggestions on how we can encourage the others who have made pledges of humanitarian assistance for Syria to come to the table, follow Canada 's lead and pay what they have pledged.

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I believe the parliamentary secretary when she says that we have paid our pledges. However, we need to take a look at that to see if we could do a bit more.

As a Canadian family, there are things we need to be doing. I want to talk about the Canadian diaspora. These are the people from the Canadian Syrian diaspora who are waiting to meet with the government and have not yet had a meeting, such as the Syrian Canadian Council, Syrian Christians for Democracy, the Syrian Expatriates Organization, the Watan organization, Canadian Relief for Syria, the Syrian Student Association, the Syrian Centre for Dialogue and the Syrian National Council.

If we are to find a way forward as Canadians, then surely these are the people we have to meet and engage with, and together find a way forward to find other ways to assist.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my friend from Newton—North Delta mentioned Canada's increasingly close relationship with the People's Republic of China. One the companies and state-owned enterprises in the People's Republic of China currently investing in the oil sands is Sinopec, which happens to be the single largest customer for Iranian oil. At the same time, the investments from China and the relationship with Syria are what blocked measures in the United Nations Security Council. China is a very close supporter of Bashar al-Assad.

In relation to the pressure to prevent oil revenue ending up funding terrorism in that region of the world, should our foreign policy extend to our trade policies with relation to the People's Republic of China? What more could we be doing there?

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I can remember a time when the Prime Minister made a comment to the effect that we would only have truck or trade with countries that had good human rights records.

Our government has a relationship with China. Whether it is on a trading issue, which it obviously is, in our speed to sell off our Canadian jobs overseas and risk huge environmental damage, we have that relationship. Is the government using it wisely to at least press the Chinese to press Assad to find a peaceful solution? We need to continue to use that tool. It is at our disposal.

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in my speech, I focused on the importance of helping the women and children who make up more than 50% of all the refugees involved in this conflict.

I also mentioned that sexual violence is used as a weapon of war that often, unfortunately, destroys communities.

I was particularly touched by the case she mentioned in her speech. She spoke about a woman and child who are in Syria right now and who are struggling to get to Canada. How come this woman and child are not being allowed to come to Canada?

We know that women and children are always the most vulnerable in conflict situations.

I ask the member to elaborate on the government's unwillingness and delay in allowing women and children, who could be saved from violence and potential trauma, to come to Canada.

What does my colleague think it will take for the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism to act?

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, rape as a weapon of war is nothing new. We hear of it over and over again. It is very sad and actually breaks my heart.

There are growing stories of sexual violence and rape. There are stories of those things happening within the refugee camps and of their being used by the government forces, opposition forces and those who are just there and they happen to be abusive personalities.

During this time, I think that we as a country have a role to play. When we are talking about families who actually qualify to be sponsored into this country, who already have gone through the early stages and are just waiting for medicals, we should at least get them tourist visas and get them here while all of that gets completed. That would seem to be the humane thing to do.

We also have to work with our partners and agencies to make sure that we are addressing issues like this and that we are shining the light on these kinds of situations to protect women and children.

As a teacher, I dealt with the aftermath of refugees who came from very violent situations similar to this, and I can say that it leaves lifelong scars.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, some of the statements made in the member's speech were totally out of context.

My colleague gave a speech giving all the details of what this government has done regarding exactly what the member has been complaining about. It sounds to me like the NDP is selectively deaf and did not hear anything. My colleague talked about family reunification. He talked about expediting immigration. He talked about giving more capacity to our immigration office in Beirut. We are expediting everything that the member is talking about. Of course, violence is a very bad thing, but none of that registered with the NDP, and there she went with her emotional speech talking about all these things.

If the member really wants to have a debate, she should listen to what the government has done and then critique it, but do not come at it totally blind and not for one minute accept what has been said by my colleague about immigration. Members are totally blank on the other side.

Not only that, but this is a debate on Syria, and the member was talking about China, which, of course we told them about, but that does not register.

I sit here and wonder what we are doing here tonight. The government is giving all the information, but what do we get from the NDP? It is a totally selective blank, and then the member goes on about other things in her speech.

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to tell my respected colleague across the way that the stories I am talking about, the ones that I hear in my office and others, are ongoing.

I will acknowledge that the government has made some accommodations, but we have a lot more work to do. I the Minister of Foreign Affairs himself say that there is a lot more work that we could be doing.

We are talking about the emotions of families of the Syrian diaspora. I do not apologize for getting emotional and talking about this emotionally. When families are in danger and are in a war zone, it is emotional and it does get to one's heart. We know the impact of war.

[Wladyslaw Lizon, Conservative, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my colleague, the member for Durham.

It has been more than two years since the start of the conflict in Syria. Canada, along with the international community, continues to be horrified by the ongoing violence. The growing number of civilian deaths and the influx of refugees fleeing Syria underscore the appalling impact of the conflict on the people of Syria.

Since early 2011, millions of people have been affected by the violence in Syria, with many fleeing the country due to the deteriorating humanitarian situation. Recent reports estimate that 80,000 people have died in the ongoing conflict, and thousands more have been wounded. It is estimated that more than 6.8 million people, close to one-third of the country's population, are currently in need of humanitarian assistance in Syria. There are currently more than 1.4 million Syrian refugees in the neighbouring countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. Canada commends these countries for opening their doors and taking in so many displaced families under such difficult circumstances.

Since the beginning of the crisis, Canada, along with the international community, has continued to call for full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to those in need. Given the enormity of needs, it is important that humanitarian assistance provided by the international community be coordinated. With Canada's support, humanitarian partners are providing lifesaving assistance and achieving tangible humanitarian results on the ground. I would like to highlight some examples.

Inside Syria, our support, combined with the support of others, has enabled the United Nations World Food Programme to reach two million people with emergency food assistance in March 2013 and to scale up operations to reach 2.5 million in April. Since the beginning of this year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has distributed more than one million non-food basic relief items, such as mattresses, blankets, diapers, and kitchen sets to crisis-affected Syrians. The International Committee of the Red Cross has provided water treatment supplies, spare parts and generators. This ensured that more than 2.7 million people had access to drinking water between January and March of 2013.

Since the beginning of this year, the International Committee of the Red Cross, working with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, has delivered emergency food assistance to more than 600,000 vulnerable people. They have also distributed household kits, including mattresses, blankets, kitchen sets, hygiene kits and candles to over 200,000 crisis-affected people.

Canada's support does not end at Syria's borders. With so many Syrians pouring into neighbouring countries, we are supporting the regional approach of our humanitarian partners. Our partners on the ground tell us that thousands of Syrians are arriving in neighbouring countries every day, many in need of basic services, such as shelter, medical care, food and water.

Reports are showing that the strain on communities hosting refugees is compounding other challenges in neighbouring countries. Tensions in host communities are on the rise, mainly due to the gaps in support for communities. Acts of violence and aggression against refugees are being reported in hosting countries. The strain of hosting more than 448,000 refugees in Jordan, for example, is increasing tensions on scarce resources, including water, electricity, et cetera. In addition, Jordanians are facing high unemployment, high prices and poverty.

Canada has reacted quickly to the situation. Our support is helping to alleviate some of the challenges taking root in these countries. For example, in both Lebanon and Jordan, wait times for registration of new refugees has been reduced. In Jordan, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees opened a new registration centre in Irbid in February and is registering approximately 700 refugees per day, in addition to the daily rate of around 1,000 refugees processed in Amman. Also in Jordan, our support to UNICEF has helped to provide access to safe drinking water to almost 175,000 people, and access to sanitation facilities for over 146,000 refugees.

In March 2013, the United Nations World Food Programme delivered emergency food assistance to more than 120,000 crisis-affected people through its voucher program. In addition to this, the entire refugee population of Zaatari camp, about 175,000 people, receives bread each day through the World Food Programme.

In Lebanon, Canada's support to the United Nations World Food Programme helped to feed over 150,000 Syrians in February 2013 alone. It also helped UNICEF to vaccinate at least 207,000 Syrian and Lebanese children against measles, and provided 17,000 affected children with psychological support services, and enrolled over 17,000 affected children in education and learning programs.

Our humanitarian partners weatherproofed 700 dwellings and rehabilitated more than 100 collective shelters. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees opened two new registration centres in February, bringing the total number of centres to four.

In Turkey, Canada's support helped the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees distribute tents, blankets and kitchen sets to over 220,000 refugees. It helped UNICEF enrol over 26,000 affected children in learning programs.

In Iraq, Canada's assistance to UNICEF helped provide 13,500 refugees with access to safe drinking water, and over 36,000 children and women with access to essential health services.

Canada will continue to look at ways to best support the Syrian population and to address the humanitarian needs arising from this crisis.

Despite this, we all know that this humanitarian assistance is not enough, and that a political solution to end the ongoing conflict must be found. Canada continues to support the efforts of the international community to bring about an end to the violence. We have repeatedly called on all parties to end the violence.

The violence in Syria must end. The people of Syria must be safe from violence. Civilians denied the necessities of life must be provided with humanitarian assistance.

I assure members that the Government of Canada will continue to work with our partners in an effort to end the suffering of civilians in Syria, and ensure life-saving assistance reaches all those who need it.

[Jim Karygiannis, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we have been around this debate a number of times. A numbers of times we have heard members from the opposite party saying the same things. As a matter of fact, I can probably quote one of the member's colleagues saying exactly the same words a year ago, July 5, 2012. The same words were said tonight.

I am going to put it to the member very plainly. Does he agree with the notion that the Government of Canada, the government that he represents, should reach out to the community and listen to them, and match dollar for dollar what they raise, and also what they raise through NGOs?

The Syrian community of Canada has raised millions of dollars, by themselves and through NGOs. Is it not time that the member walks over to his colleague, the minister of CIDA, as well as the parliamentary secretary of CIDA, and says, “Hey, we have been shaken here. The community wants this.” When is he going to do that?

[Wladyslaw Lizon, Conservative, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we have a crisis of a huge magnitude in Syria. I am proud of our country, our government and everything that Canada has been doing to help Syrian refugees and to help people affected by this conflict.

Today, our government has provided over $80 million to those affected by the crisis in Syria. Can more be done? Should more be done? I do not think it would ever be enough. We have to use our joint efforts with all of the international community toward ending the crisis in Syria, ending the violence and ending the fighting. That is the only solution that would last and that is the only solution that Syrian people are waiting for.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my question to the hon. member for Mississauga East—Cooksville is this. We have seen a disturbing trend in statements by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in relation to the United Nations. It is a kind of contempt for the United Nations, the idea of multilateralism and diplomacy, the idea that we will not go along to get along. I put it to him that in a conflict like Syria it becomes so very clear that when we seek a political solution, if we did not have the United Nations we would need to invent it.

For all its flaws, for all its failures, if we cannot get a multilateral solution with persistent pressure through the UN, through the Security Council, on Russia, on China and on those countries that have long-term relationships with Bashar al-Assad, we would not ourselves want to prop up someone like that, but now that the so-called rebel forces appear to be riddled with al Qaeda and we have the conflict spreading with potential destabilization with Israel's rocket attack, we are in really serious trouble. Would he not agree with me that we need the United Nations as the primary vehicle for getting to political peacemaking solutions?

[Wladyslaw Lizon, Conservative, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has been working with the members of the United Nations and with other countries. Of course, I agree we have to talk with Russia and China. We have to talk with everyone. Russia and China are not the only countries that Mr. al-Assad has good relations with, or historically speaking, has had relations with. For whatever reason, they seem to support him.

However, the democratic countries of this world should get together with the United Nations on bilateral agreements to make sure that everything that can be done is done to end the violence and the armed conflict. Continuing violence and fighting will not solve anything. War does not solve anything. It has to come to peace for a lasting solution to be achieved.

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight in response to the request by the member for Toronto Centre to debate the situation in Syria in accordance with Standing Order 52(9).

Our government, and indeed most Canadians, have been following the situation in Syria very closely for the last two years, and particularly in the last few months. All Canadians are extremely concerned about the loss of life, human rights abuses, the destruction of property and the destabilizing impact the civil war has had on the region.

I think all members of the House share the desire for the conflict to come to an end and to see the Assad regime toppled. Our government has expressed this sentiment consistently for the last 18 to 24 months.

In recent weeks, an already terrible situation seems to be spiralling towards the depths of barbarism. The potential use of chemical weapons is something the world must examine closely and carefully. This need for careful examination stems from the fact that the use of these weapons will likely lead to a serious response by Canada and our international allies.

By now we have likely all seen the disturbing images from Syria of patients in hospitals who appear to be suffering the effects of a chemical toxin. These weapons have the potential for mass destruction and death. They would certainly cause greater suffering for the people of Syria and wider panic and instability in the region, which will lead to a rise in the number of refugees in border states and will raise the risk level in an already unstable part of the world.

Syria is not a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention. Canada is a signatory to the convention and has a long track record of working with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Indeed, the United Nations and our allies in NATO have been watching the potential risk with respect to chemical weapons in Syria very closely.

The member for Toronto Centre has suggested in this debate tonight that there is some tension in the position of the government. In fact, the position of the government has been unequivocal. Assad must go, and the death and suffering needs to end.

The issue for our country and in this debate tonight is to determine what role Canada should play in the pursuit of these outcomes. In listening to the debate tonight, it is clear that the members of the House, including those from the Liberal Party, do not advocate direct military action.

Certainly, the Canadian Forces are one of the most highly trained and professional militaries in the world. However, a civilian protection mission would require boots on the ground. We are not prepared to do that.

Syrian air defence is considerably more developed than that in Libya. It is also more dense airspace, making any international multilateral military action extremely complicated and risky.

It also seems clear that most members of the House do not advocate providing arms or military assistance to the rebels. I read a quote from the NDP critic stating that this was not Canada's approach. Finally, it appears that most members acknowledge that the civil war is not clearly demarcated by a monolithic rebel force on one side and the Assad regime on the other. The rebels may very well be a coalition of various groups within Syria opposed to the regime for different reasons. Most importantly, the rebels do not appear to share aspirations for a post-Assad Syria.

With all these points of agreement in mind, I would expect that most members of the House would agree with the government's approach to the Syrian crisis. The Prime Minister and this government have advocated a strong multilateral approach, with the United Nations and our allies, to apply strong diplomatic pressure on the regime and to investigate seriously the possible use of chemical weapons.

On March 21, the Secretary-General of the United Nations launched an investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria. Canada strongly supports this investigation. Any and all credible allegations, including potential incidents in Homs late last year, and more recently in Adra, will be pursued.

The UN has inspectors in Cyprus ready to conduct this investigation. These inspectors have been selected and trained and are ready to deploy on one day's notice. There just needs to be a cessation of hostilities or some form of security for this investigation to occur.

Canada was one of the first countries to pledge direct financial support for the United Nations investigation of the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Canada has also provided some direct unilateral assistance to neighbouring countries dealing with the threat posed by chemical weapons. Detection equipment and protective gear have been provided to the Jordanian armed forces to guard against a chemical weapons or biological incident arising from Syria.

Canada has also provided support to strengthen civilian capabilities to respond to chemical or other attacks affecting the people of Jordan. We have also pledged support for the establishment of a regional biological risk management training centre at the Jordanian university in co-operation with our allies, the U.K. and the U.S.

At the time of this debate in our House of Commons this evening, the UN-led investigation into chemical weapons use and the threat they pose is at an impasse. This is not acceptable. Canada supports the UN Secretary-General's repeated efforts to resolve the current impasse so that all credible allegations are investigated as soon as possible.

Like our UN and NATO allies, Canada continues to demand that Syrian authorities grant full and unfettered access to the United Nations investigation team immediately. In recent weeks there have been news reports and even statements by UN officials that suggest there is evidence of the use of chemical weapons like sarin gas by both the Assad regime and a section of rebel forces.

While the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria quickly distanced itself from statements related to weapons use by the rebels, the commission did state that it “has not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict”.

The fog of war, the increased use of media as a tactical advantage and influence operations by parties in a modern conflict show the need for a UN-led investigation to provide clear answers. Canada is pursuing a clear but careful approach to Syria. We are working unilaterally with allies and with countries like Jordan in the region to address the threats caused by the conflict.

This government is also committed to our multilateral course of action with respect to Syria as well, working with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations. Canada has taken a principled and consistent stand on Syria. We will continue to work with our international partners to contain the threat caused by the situation in Syria, and we will continue to apply global pressure on the Assad regime.

These are very difficult times. This was a very good time for the House to revisit this issue and Canada's response. I think the careful and thoughtful deliberation by my colleagues tonight indicates that Canada cannot rush into an action engaging our military forces. We must keep this as a clear diplomatic effort on our part. We must clearly work with our allies, the United Nations, and NGOs working under the auspices of the United Nations, and our allies in NATO not only to assess the military threats on the region, but also to assess the real use of chemical weapons on the ground in Syria.

I appreciate the thoughtful comments from all sides of this debate, but I do think this government has pursued a very principled and rational approach. We are also dealing with the humanitarian crisis surrounding Syria, and we have heard tonight on all sides some acknowledgement that Canada has reacted with respect to refugees, particularly with regard to family reunification. I think even members on this side of the House have acknowledged we could do that perhaps faster and better, but it is clear from comments on the other side that those efforts are under way and that there is real and meaningful efforts by the minister to expedite family reunification, while also providing the appropriate oversight in relation to potential security risks that might be associated with widespread departures during a time of war.

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague mentioned that the UN will broker a diplomatic and political solution to the situation.

I would like my colleague to talk about the contradiction in his speech. On the one hand, his government refuses to seek a seat at the UN Security Council, the most important international body with respect to conflict resolution. On the other hand, it refuses to accept its international responsibilities by pulling out of several treaties and taking positions that are roundly condemned by the international community.

How can they claim that the government will flex its diplomatic muscle when, in reality, the opposite is true?

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague on the opposite side for her passion, and evidently her knowledge of the subject.

I would refer to my remarks where I highlighted not only Canada's unilateral effort, which is direct country to country, but our efforts multilaterally, through the United Nations and through work with our allies in NATO and around the world.

Importantly, she referenced the Security Council. The Security Council, which can authorize UN-sanctioned force in certain circumstances, has clearly already articulated that will not happen. There are two permanent members of that Security Council that will not allow the council to pursue a UN-sanctioned military effort.

This is an area where the UN is one important part of Canada's diplomatic statecraft in this effort, alongside unilateral relations and alongside direct visits by the minister to the region. There is a whole plethora of things that Canada is doing to apply pressure. The UN is one important part of that.

I would suggest to the hon. member that even a seat at the Security Council these days would not change what is coming from that.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to take this occasion, belated as it is, to congratulate the member on his election in November. I have not yet had an opportunity to put a question to the member for Durham.

When he speaks of presentations this evening that were thoughtful and calming, I must say his was one. It was thoughtful and it took into account what we all feel, that we must not be imagining for one moment that Canada wants to engage militarily in Syria. It is nice to reaffirm that there is consensus in this place on that. I also appreciate his recognition of the toolkit of statecraft and diplomacy of the United Nations, and our other relationships.

I would ask him very specifically if it would not make sense for us in this House to agree by consensus that there is more we can do in humanitarian effort, particularly in those very significant humanitarian crises that exist in refugee camps in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, by providing more assistance directly through humanitarian relief in the camps and by offering that assistance to those governments that are hosting all those refugees.

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Chair, I thank the leader of the Green Party for her nice remarks in welcoming me. Certainly we have shared some time at Dalhousie Law School together, although not at the same time.

Her questions are good ones. We are working with other states in the region to address the refugee crisis caused by the Syrian civil war in the last two years. Members on this side have expressed that we need to do more and to particularly watch how that evolves.

There is also security ramifications caused by a refugee exodus under these circumstances. Importantly, I have also heard some discussion in the chamber tonight about NGOs and actions by non-state actors on the ground in Syria, and I think we have to express some words of caution.

We are not even at the halfway point in 2013. I would remind this House that Syria is in a state of war, and as I said in my remarks, with very hard to identify teams within that war. There is certainly a united front against a regime, and then there is the regime. There have been five journalists killed this year in Syria, and we are only days past Press Freedom Day. Last month, two archbishops were abducted. It is a country with which we have to proceed cautiously, even with non-state actors on the ground.

[Jim Karygiannis, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we have been around this block and this debate a couple of times in this House. Time and time again, the government states the same obvious thing and keeps saying how great it is doing. If we were to read the speeches from back then and read the speeches now, they say the same thing.

However, what the government is failing to understand is the engagement of the Syrian diaspora in Canada. The engagement of any diaspora at the time of need, at the time of destruction, be it man-made or be it a natural disaster, is very important. This lesson was learned very quickly when we had the earthquake in Bhuj, back in 2001, and the tsunami and the disaster in Muzaffarabad.

The Liberal government at the time set a protocol and the protocol was very simple: expedite family-class applications that are in the queue, husbands and wives, expedite parental applications, make an opportunity for people who want to sponsor their parents or grandparents or spouses to move them to the front of the line, match dollar for dollar what was raised by the community and work with the community so it can issue tax receipts. Those lessons were well appreciated by the community. Community members were engaged.

The current government, even though sometimes pushed, continued in that same vein. Do members remember the situation in Iraq? This particular government allowed for expedition of grandparents and parents out of Iraq, as well as spouses. The only thing people had to write in their application that went to the processing centre was “Iraq” and it was expedited.

The government, after being pushed in committee by myself and the member of Parliament from Kitchener at the time, moved to bring refugees from Iraq into Iraq. And that continued.

Then we come to Syria. The Syrian community has visited government members of Parliament, has met with the minister of external affairs and bluntly put to them, “There are two issues that we are looking for. One, help with immigration; two, help with the fundraising that we are doing by matching dollar for dollar.” The community has raised millions of dollars. It worked with NGOs, government-approved NGOs. The community approached the government and said, “Will you please match dollar for dollar?” Not only did the government not even listen, it ignored the community.

Community members are trying very hard to meet with the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism so they can nail down if there is a program coming to them, as we have done for other communities.

There is no such program coming to them. And there is no such hope that we will even go with matching dollar for dollar.

I heard a member saying tonight that we are expediting people from Syria. I reached out to the immigration offices at the posts in Lebanon, as well as in Amman, Jordan. When I said, “A lot of my constituents are asking if we are running any special programs for Syrian refugees”, the answer was, “At this time, there are no special programs for Syrian refugees.”

When I asked whether there was any expediting of parents and grandparents or whether we were taking any parental sponsorships, the answer was that no new applications to sponsor parents or grandparents have been accepted for up to 24 months, that parents and grandparents of Canadians citizens or permanent residents have the option of visiting Canada on a parental and grandparent super visa.

In order to issue a visitor visa to a parent or a grandparent, it must mean that they have something to go back to in order to come to Canada and say, “I am a visitor. That means that I am going to go back to my place that I am coming from.”

Well, definitely no parent or grandparent is going to go back to what is happening in Syria, so the chances of getting a super visa are slim to none.

Then I asked the question, “Are we taking any Syrian refugees?” and the answer was, “The Government of Canada is deeply concerned about the crisis in Syria and will continue to do whatever we can do best to help the Syrian people.”

There is no word in here about taking in Syrian refugees.

Another question I posed to the post was, “Are we expediting independent class applications from Syria?” The answer was, “At this time, there are no special programs for Syrians to expedite their federal skilled worker applications.”

Clearly the government is failing the Syrian diaspora by not responding to their request to issue special visitor visas for their loved ones to come from Syria in order to get the program going again for parents and grandparents. It is a total travesty.

Then we come to the point where the community has asked to be allowed to match dollar for dollar. I had a press conference last week. The Syrian representative said he went next door and received $500 from his neighbour.

It is not only the Canadian diaspora, but the Canadian public needs to look at what is happening in Syria every day. We see it every night on our televisions. We read about it every day in the press or on the Internet. Canadians want to get engaged. They want to contribute. However, the Conservative government is not going to match dollar for dollar.

The parliamentary secretary to the minister responsible for CIDA said that the community only raised $30,000. I challenge the parliamentary secretary to sit down and speak with the Syrian Canadian Council, with Syrian organizations, and ask them how much money they have raised. She will hear that it is millions of dollars. Yet the government will not work with them. Not only will the government not match them dollar for dollar, but it will not work with these organizations in order to ensure they get a one-time receipt application so they can give tax receipts. This is another travesty.

The Conservative government does not care. Why does it not care? It cared for other communities. It worked with other communities. Why will it not work with the Syrian community? I wonder if there is an underlying situation that is causing it not to help the Syrians. The government does not care about Syrians. They do not matter. It might be because the Syrians do not vote for the Conservatives. It is not in their reform-alliance base to want to engage the Syrians.

Why is the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration playing peekaboo? Why does he say he is going to meet with Syrians but then he does not? Members of Parliament have said that the minister met here and there with Syrians. I challenged the member for Richmond Hill to tell us where the minister met with Syrians. We have not yet heard from one Conservative member of Parliament who can tell us that the minister met with this group on this date and at this place. It would indeed be a pleasure to hear that from them. If the minister is watching tonight, maybe tomorrow he will come into this Chamber and he will ask for unanimous consent to table something indicating where he met with individuals. I have yet to hear from any Syrians in Canada, or from any members of parties opposite, about a date or a place that they have met.

The Syrian community wanted to meet with the minister. It wrote and it called the minister. It emailed the minister. It received a reply. The Syrian community responded back to Mr. Braun of the minister's office and it said:

Thank you for the phone conversation and we look forward to receiving a positive response to our request for a meeting with the Honourable Minister. In anticipation of the meeting, please find attached our proposals for government action to help the victims of the disaster in Syria. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Best Regards.

That was on February 19. That was two and a half months ago. The Syrian community is still waiting to hear from the minister telling them that he is going to meet with them. They are waiting to hear from the minister about the programs he will put forward in order to help them and the diaspora.

There are hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced. There are 70,000-plus people who have been killed. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

Bishops have been abducted, and we issue press releases. There has to be something more concrete than just issuing press releases. We are monitoring the situation in Syria. Our hearts and prayers are with the Syrians. The community thanks us for the press release and the good words and asks us to put this into action.

Canadian Syrians have family that they can sponsor. Then they are waiting and waiting for a phone call or a signal from the government that it is going to do this.

We did it for others; why are we not doing it for the Syrians? Previous governments did it for Sri Lanka, for India and for Pakistan. The current government did it for a number of places, China being one of them, after the earthquake and after it was pushed. Why not from Syria?

Why is the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism going to the Middle East and saying that we are going to take thousands of refugees? He goes to the camps where the Syrians are and says we are going to take thousands of refugees. The only thing he does not say clearly is that we are going to continue the program we already have—for Iraqis. That is old news from yesterday and the day before.

The minister does not announce that we are going to take thousands of UNHCR-accepted refugees into Canada; he does not announce that. He says that we are going to take thousands of refugees in the program that already exists, and it is only for the Iraqis.

It is the same thing that he said to the Coptic community in Toronto about a year ago. After the difficulties with the Copts, he said to that community that we were taking refugees from the Middle East, and the Coptic community is still waiting.

It is the same thing with the Syrian community. They are still waiting for that phone call. They are waiting for the something that says we are going to engage them.

What has happened in Syria with the use of gas and the difficulties that exist with the neighbours beside them was put forward eloquently here tonight by all sides. Members on all sides were saying that what is happening there is a tragedy, but there are two things we have not done.

The current government has a Reform base and always caters to that base, and there are two things it does not want to do. It does not want to open the doors to people who want to sponsor people from Syria. The Conservatives do not want to open the doors to children who want to sponsor their parents and bring them to Canada. They are saying they can come on a super visa; when that is over, they will kick them back.

If I am in Canada and my parents are in a place that is undergoing difficulties such as those Syria, and I know I can look after them on a daily basis and I know I have the money to care for them, I do not see why my country, the country I am paying tax in, will not allow that to happen when it allowed it to happen from other countries. The Syrian diaspora is asking, “Why not us? Why is our government not responding in the same way that it responded to others?”

The people of that community even go further: they say they will help by donating money, millions of dollars, to the Red Cross, World Vision and government-approved NGOs, and they ask us to match them. Funding in the thousands and millions of dollars was matched for other countries, so the question again is, why not for Syria?

I am perplexed, really perplexed, that although all of Canada wants to engage, open its pockets and give, the Government of Canada certainly is not engaging. I am not sure if has a hidden agenda or if it dislikes the Syrian diaspora; I am not sure what the case situation is, but it is certainly not engaging.

My question is this: will the government members please find some soft part in their hearts to allow the Syrian community to adopt their parents and grandparents in order for them to be able to come to Canada? Will it allow the community to sponsor people that have been determined to be refugees and have been accepted by UNHCR to come to Canada? The community will step forward and look after them.

Last but not least, we should work with the Syrian diaspora to match dollar for dollar what it is raising, what it has raised by itself and through government-approved NGOs, so that it is not left out and to make sure that all communities are treated equally. Engagement in community is first and foremost. We must give communities the tools to build nations. There is nothing more important at this point in time than engaging the Syrian diaspora and providing sustainable development for nation building.

Syria is in ruins. Syria must be rebuilt after the civil war is over. If we do not engage the Syrian Canadian diaspora, we will have failed. There is no one better, who knows the situation on the ground and the language, and has the capabilities to rebuild the country than the diaspora in Canada.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I just came across news that was posted about an hour ago on Al Jazeera's website that all Internet connections between Syria and the rest of the world appear to have been severed. It is too early to know who did this or if it is a temporary disruption, but certainly there is a lot of concern because the eyes and ears of the world, and Google is reporting this today as well, have had some glimpse into what is happening in Syria, the humanitarian crisis, the loss of life, through the actions of, essentially, citizen journalists able to use the Internet.

I do not so much have a question, but as the minutes draw down on this debate, I would reinforce what we all know, that this situation is desperate and tragic, a humanitarian crisis, that it worsens by the minute, and that signs of hope for a peaceful solution are few and far between. We also had one of those earlier today in the commitments made by Mr. Putin and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

I certainly urge all colleagues, though I do not think I need to as we all feel the same way, not to let this crisis slip from our awareness and to find ways as a nation united to help people who are caught in this conflict, particularly the women and children. All Syrians in Syria and in the refugee camps need our help. I agree with the member for Scarborough—Agincourt completely that the Syrian community here in Canada should be engaged to try to find ways to help the people currently suffering.