Mr. Speaker, at this point in the debate I will be re-asserting facts that have already been stated here, which I think are important.
Where are we at this point this afternoon in this honourable chamber after speaking about something so desperately alarming? As my hon. colleague just said, every day counts for these Yazidi women.
After more than two years of publicized atrocities, as well as several UN reports and an official declaration that genocide was occurring against the Yazidis, our response as a country has been overwhelmingly insufficient. It began with our reluctance to acknowledge that genocide was occurring, and we have proceeded now to a point where we know that we have to assert our Canadian identity. We have to assert our responsibility in the international community.
Oftentimes, in many other situations that we contemplate here, we say we are complicit when we are silent, so I am glad this afternoon that we know where everyone stands at this point in the process. I want to talk a little bit more about it and the next best steps to move forward. I hope we will see some common sense and some compassion in the government's action, because this is extremely frustrating, as it is one of those situations that are no-brainers.
It was back on April 20, 2016, that the Leader of the Opposition first presented a motion to the House of Commons that mentioned the atrocities by ISIL. Unfortunately, that motion failed to receive unanimous consent. Immediately following that, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs presented a similar motion, but with a different intent. From there we moved on to yet another motion on June 14, in which the Leader of the Opposition again asked the House to recognize the actions of ISIS as genocide. Despite significant support from the Conservative Party and the New Democratic Party, and a handful from the Liberal Party, the motion failed.
The day after the second motion was voted down, the hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that he was proud of the House of Commons and he defended the defeat of the motion by underscoring that the Liberals wanted an assessment of genocide to be done properly. He referenced another of my hon. colleagues who sits on the Subcommittee on International Human Rights, and a motion that he had referred the matter to the International Criminal Court, to formally determine the existence of genocide and to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice.
That is a little bit of the history of how long we have been beating this dead horse, so to speak. The following day, on June 16, 2016, the commission of inquiry released its report, “They Came to Destroy: ISIS Crimes against the Yazidi”. The report detailed a multitude of horrific experiences and presented a number of important findings and recommendations to the international community.
In consequence, it is important for us now to understand our role and responsibility if we are to be significant actors in the international community.
Canada has an important role to play in addressing the threat that ISIS poses to the global community and in alleviating the suffering of civilians caught in the conflict. We have heard some of the very compelling descriptions of the vulnerable people, the young women and girls specifically, who have been targeted. It is very confounding to understand that in the House, strategy and political process can take precedence over expediting such a human rights issue for these women.
Forced displacement and forced recruitment of children, destruction and desecration of places of religious or cultural significance, and denial of fundamental freedoms have all been recorded in territory under the control of ISIS. This ongoing crisis seriously jeopardizes regional peace.
The NDP has called on the Government of Canada to work in partnership to support the development of responsible, peaceful, and democratic governance in Iraq, and to address the issue and combat the threat posed by ISIS, but also to take that role and responsibility in helping displaced and damaged people who need reprieve and who need Canada to step up as a compassionate actor in the international community.
In response to the humanitarian and security threat posed by ISIS, we know that part of our responsibility has been through a coalition of over 60 countries, which President Obama put together, with the objective of degrading and destroying ISIS. Many members of the coalition, including Norway, South Korea, and New Zealand, are making solely humanitarian and non-combatant contributions.
Some of us here today have already alluded to the face-to-face witness testimony we have had in a variety of different committees that we are privileged to sit on. It is very important to hear those testimonies, because those people will tell us things that may seem insignificant, but which have been powerful actions, nonetheless, despite not being military in nature. They have been actions of of compassion. We are accountable to the global community, and we can be doing so much more.
I would like to talk quickly about the role that the NDP believes Canada can play in addressing the threat that ISIS poses to the global community, and in alleviating the suffering of civilians who are caught in the conflict.
Of course, we have been saying for a long time, and I will champion this again, that Canada must focus on stopping the flow of arms, funds, and foreign fighters, including by improving our anti-radicalization efforts right here at home. We should be providing considerable help to the vulnerable populations in Iraq and Syria, including basic humanitarian support, but also long-term support for recovery, such as psychosocial support to help these groups return to their communities and rebuild.
The NDP believes that the Canadian government, through the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, should exercise discretionary powers under section 25 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to immediately take action and bring the Yazidi people fleeing genocide to Canada, with the goal of immediately resettling 3,000 to 4,000 direct victims of genocide; and within the year end, a target of 10,000 through a special measure utilizing credible on-the-ground organizations to identify and select victims of genocide for resettlement in Canada.
These measures are to be above and beyond any pre-existing initiatives or policies.
We also believe that the additional level of Canadian screening is leading to severe delays, and we urge the government to waive the additional level of screening and bring Yazidis to Canada following the UNHCR screening.
Governments, like individuals, are defined not by their words or intentions but by their actions, particularly in the case of genocide, and it really is a matter of put up or shut up. When an entire people are being wiped out, the global community has an obligation to do what it can to protect them. If it is true, as the Prime Minister has stated, that Canada is back and the world needs more Canada, then this is something we can act on quickly.