Mr. Speaker, this is one of those times when as parliamentarians we take on one of the greatest debates. Something that happens only under the Conservative government is that we debate deploying our troops and putting them in harm's way. It is a practice we began with the Afghanistan mission. We did it with Libya, and this is the second time we are doing it with Operation Impact.
I know that our troops are always prepared to go into harm's way. This is a mission they volunteer for. This is a life career they choose. I know that their training, skill, and bravery will serve them well as they carry out the mission in Iraq and Syria.
With that, I would like to pay tribute to Sergeant Andrew Doiron for his sacrifice for his country. He unfortunately was killed in a friendly fire accident that occurred in the Kurdish region, where he was working alongside our Kurdish peshmerga partners training them, advising them, assisting them, and essentially making sure that they can execute their battle plans, win back territory, and liberate villages that have been taken by ISIL.
At the same time, we have to remember some of the first casualties ISIL was able to inspire. They included Corporal Nathan Cirillo, who died at the National War Memorial when the attack on Parliament Hill occurred on October 22, days before we ever deployed any air force, and Warrant officer Patrice Vincent, who was targeted October 20, in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, when he was getting a cup of coffee at Tim Hortons, of all things.
ISIL is an incredible threat. It has been said that they are using 21st century social media and 20th century weaponry to carry out 13th century barbarism. This is a threat we have been witnessing on television as they have promoted their genocide. This jihadist terrorist organization has documented the crucifixion of Christians and how the death cult trapped so many Yazidis on the mountain.
They sell women and girls into sexual slavery. We have seen them behead all other ethnic minorities, including Shias and what they call apostate Sunnis. They have not stopped with the adults; we have watched them murder children.
This ethnic cleansing was horrific and gut-wrenching for anyone who saw it. Of course, it was played in the media.
They did not stop there with their ethnic cleansing, with their genocide, with their jihadist, warped ideology and screwed up ideas on religion. They captured aid workers and journalists. They sold some off for ransom. Ultimately they beheaded most of them on national television and bragged about it. Then we witnessed the barbaric and sadistic burning of the Jordanian pilot.
This really did establish what was happening in Iraq and Syria and the threat they represent to the region. We also saw them inspire westerners, including Canadians, to sign up and travel to Syria and Iraq and become jihadist warriors. We saw them inspire people around the world, including here in Canada, to become terrorists in their own countries. We saw what happened in Copenhagen, France, and Australia.
This organization, this jihadist genocidal death cult called ISIL, the Islamic State, has to be stopped. It is in Canada's national interest to go to Iraq, as we have for the last six months, and expand this mission to include Syria to ensure that ISIL does not establish its caliphate, headquartered in the so-called capital of Iraq.
If they do that, they will continue to bring their terror to Canada, to our allies, and continue to have their genocide grow in the region.
It has never been the Canadian way to sit on the sidelines. It has never been the Canadian way to take a pass when we have these types of brutal regimes gaining ground, and because of our intervention, along with our allies, 25% of the territory in Iraq now has been won back.
The aid and assist role that Canada and our coalition partners have played with our special operations forces in training Iraqi and Kurdish militias and security forces has been so far successful. Our air strikes have supported them and have degraded the capability of ISIL within Iraq, but they are coalescing and consolidating their fighting team in eastern Syria. It is a lawless land in the east, and ISIL has control.
The terminology and, really when it comes down to it, the reason we need to go to Syria to uproot ISIL and degrade them so they are not a threat to us here in Canada is no different than when the Liberals first deployed Canadian Armed Forces, without debate in this House of Commons, to Afghanistan because of the safe haven that the Taliban was offering to Al Qaeda for allowing them the ability to go out and attack our allies, which included killing Canadians in the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington.
Of course, Al Qaeda had been perpetrating these types of attacks around the world against predominantly U.S. interests and U.S. facilities, but those targets were ultimately nailed by the terrorist activities. However, that principle, that objective, which the Liberal government of 2002 saw as being necessary and committed us to a war that lasted 12 years, was done without any debate, without any transparency. That national interest is no different today than it was back then.
Through this whole process, we have been extremely accountable. Today I have been hearing the opposition criticize us for not being accountable. We are the first government to bring forward resolutions for full debate and full disclosure on these missions before we deploy or extend. We are the first government to have held ongoing technical briefings with the media and with parliamentarians on what is happening on an ongoing basis. Over 15 technical briefings have been held in the last six months on our activities, plus the ministers of National Defence and Foreign Affairs have been appearing before committees of both foreign affairs and national defence, ensuring that parliamentarians were informed.
We talk about the Liberals and how they have abandoned their values. I listened to the Minister of Veterans Affairs very closely, how he clearly documented the Liberals' proud history of ensuring that Canada always does the heavy lifting when we needed to be in military interventions, which they have totally abandoned today. The Liberals do not replicate or resemble themselves in any way, shape or form from a decade ago.
I do not understand why New Democrats would not want to participate. Social democratic parties in Europe, like that of the leader of France, are involved in Operation Impact with our allies. The Danes and the Dutch are all involved, and New Democrats are prepared to sit back and watch this genocide taking place. They are prepared to sacrifice more lives, and that is not acceptable.
We will go forward into Syria under the UN charter, article 51, which clearly states that for self-defence or collective self-defence, we have a right to go into another nation where attacks are being launched. The Government of Iraq has made the request. The United States has already reported to the UN that they will participate, as they already have for several months, and we will do the same to ensure that we degrade the capability of ISIL to carry out their terrorist attacks and brutality in the region, and of course prevent them from being able to do it here in Canada or any other allied nation.
We will continue with our humanitarian aid because it is important. Canada has been very generous. The taxpayers of Canada, via the government, have already been charitable and donated over $700 million to help feed 1.7 million refugees in the region. They have helped clothe and shelter 1.25 million and allowed half a million kids to get to school.
In closing I will say that we will continue to do that in the long term, as the Prime Minister has said, to ensure that once we achieve peace and stability in the region, we will help rebuild it as Canada has always done because we are a generous nation.