Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House with a heavy heart. As confirmed by the Prime Minister, Robert Hall, a Canadian hostage in the Philippines, was killed by his captors. President Aquino spoke with the Prime Minister and expressed his condolences to all Canadians.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Hall family, who have shown great strength in the face of such a horrific situation. Along with the family of fellow victim John Ridsdel, Canada mourns in light of these tragedies.
Canada holds the terrorist group fully responsible for this cold-blooded and cowardly murder.
When the Prime Minister was at the G7 summit, he reiterated that terrorist hostage taking only fuels more violence and instability. We are committed to working with international partners to pursue those responsible and to bring them to justice, however long it takes.
Today, we mourn the loss of Mr. Hall to his community and Canada.