Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to stand in the House on behalf of the people of Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon to speak in favour of the government motion to extend and expand the military mission against the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.
Like the previous speaker, I count it a great privilege to stand in this House of Commons to debate a motion like this, which is something that has been unique in this country since our government came to power. The Liberal Party never put motions like this before the House for its support. Certainly I am proud to be part of a government that does.
Since early last year, ISIL has cut a wide swath of ethnic cleansing, massacres, assassinations, abductions, rapes, kidnappings, and destruction across parts of Iraq and Syria. It wears its heinous crimes as badges of honour and broadcasts its barbarism widely in order to try to win depraved individuals over to its jihadist terrorist cause. ISIL speaks openly of wanting to establish a cross-border caliphate stretching from India to the south of Spain.
As the Minister of National Defence has mentioned, before the international community of 24 nations from North America, Europe, the Middle East, and around the world stepped in to militarily assist Iraqi and Kurdish security forces, ISIL was operating in the region with impunity. It was rolling across the region and wiping out anything and anyone in its path that did not conform to its twisted ideology.
While efforts to degrade ISIL's capabilities to operate in the open have proven successful, jihadi terrorism continues to threaten vulnerable minority communities in the Middle East. ISIL also continues to pose a danger to the security of Canada, as is evidenced by its attempts to establish a region from which it can launch and inspire further international attacks and by naming Canada specifically as a target in multiple directives to its followers.
When Canadians are threatened by terrorism, the Government of Canada will act. Canadians support the mission against ISIL, as do the vast majority of my constituents, who have taken the time to indicate that they are overwhelmingly in favour of Canada's military action against ISIL because they believe that civilized nations of the world must not remain on the sidelines when a threat of this nature presents itself.
I followed the debate today closely, and unfortunately many opposition members have chosen to focus on everything but the mission outlined in this motion. That is why we are here: to talk about why this mission is so necessary and why Canada must do its part and engage with our allies to say that we and other civilized, capable, and free nations will not stand idly by while genocide is perpetrated against so many innocents.
Allow me to focus for a few moments on one example of ISIL's actions in Iraq so that all members might understand the gravity of what is taking place.
ISIL is systematically targeting communities and individuals who do not share its twisted, fanatical beliefs. Entire religious minority communities are at risk of disappearing forever under the tyranny of ISIL. Nowhere is this clearer than on the Nineveh plains, where Christian communities dating back to the time of the first apostles are being systematically erased from the landscape. These Christians are among the last people on earth still using Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus Christ. It is estimated that 100,000 Christians have been driven from their ancestral lands. Religious artifacts have also been desecrated, and ancient manuscripts dating to the first century have been destroyed by ISIL.
In a disturbing parallel to the Nazi practice of marking property owned by Jews, ISIL marked the homes of Christians in Mosul, one of Iraq's largest cities, with the Arabic letter “N” for Nazara, an early Islamic term for Christians. Once identified, Christians were given the choice to convert to radical Islam, pay a massive fine, or face death by the sword. Most chose to flee for their lives.
Canon Andrew White, known as the vicar of Baghdad, has described the situation in Iraq as “the worst reality of religious persecution since the Holocaust.”
Amnesty International investigator Donatella Rovera has said:
The massacres and abductions being carried out by the Islamic State provide harrowing new evidence that a wave of ethnic cleansing against minorities is sweeping across northern Iraq.
William Youmaran, president of the Assyrian American National Federation, made the following comments, which all members of this House would be wise to heed. He said:
We understand that not all peoples see the tremendous religious and regional implications of such a loss, but if the world community no longer fear the judgment of God, let us all fear the judgment of history for failing to act at this critical and dire moment for millions in the Middle East.
The crimes against these Christians are just one example of the unspeakable acts that ISIL has perpetrated in Iraq and Syria. We are all aware of the others: rape being used as a weapon of war, women and children being sold into slavery, beheadings, people burned alive in cages.
Canadians have seen these images and read these stories. They know that evil like this cannot be confronted armed only with strongly worded resolutions or good intentions. That is why they support targeted military action against ISIL.
At the same time that we participated in these types of military strikes in Iraq, Canada was and is one of the largest humanitarian donors to Iraq and displaced Syrians. This is not an either-or proposition. Canada was among the first to recognize and address the significant needs of the Iraqis and Syrians affected by ISIL's reign of terror in the region.
As the Prime Minister said in his address to this House on Tuesday, over the last six months we have helped feed 1.7 million people in Iraq, provide shelter and relief supplies to 1.25 million people, and give some education to at least half a million children. We provided support to the over 200,000 Syrian refugees in Iraq with food, water, shelter, and protection.
What the opposition fails to recognize is that aid cannot be delivered without security and security cannot exist in an environment where aid workers are routinely taken as hostages and decapitated in front of the cameras, nor are we satisfied to merely offer a hot meal or a warm coat to those who happen to escape the clutches of ISIL. We believe Canada's obligation to a vulnerable population is to prevent refugees and displaced persons from being created in the first place.
Canada has never been afraid to do its part when it comes to the responsibility to protect innocents. We have done it throughout our history, and Canadians can be proud that we are doing so again.
It is clear that the depravity of ISIL knows no bounds. Barbaric practices such as stoning, crucifixions, torture, rape, and murder, including that of children, have become their common practices. It is also clear that if left unchecked, ISIL would pose a real and present danger to Canada and Canadians. ISIL spokesmen have praised the cowardly attack on Corporal Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Office Patrice Vincent. They have encouraged others to conduct similar attacks here. They have made repeated and specific threats against our country and Canadians, and if allowed to establish their caliphate, they would use it as a base from which to launch terrorist attacks against us and our allies.
As long as Canada remains a pluralistic, tolerant, and open society where individuals are free to believe and worship, or not worship, in a manner of their own choosing, we will be a target of ISIL.
The world has been confronted by a group of jihadi terrorists, the likes of which we have never seen. ISIL will not stop committing atrocities until it is stopped by force, and we have been asked by the Iraqis to help provide it. That is why we must continue to work with our coalition partners to diminish and degrade the capacity of ISIL to operate in the open. We must not allow ISIL to establish a base from which it can launch further terrorist attacks. We must not allow ISIL to continue the barbaric assault on innocents without a response.
Canadians support this mission, and I am proud to support this motion in the House of Commons on their behalf.