Mr. Speaker, I certainly share my colleague's sentiments. There has been some discussion back and forth here about having an embassy opened in Iran. One of the points that has not been answered directly from our friends in the NDP is this issue of the safety of Canadian officials. One of the things that Iran does, in addition to what the member mentioned, is attack diplomatic staff. My colleague from Courtenay—Alberni mentioned the British having a diplomatic presence there. In 2011, in response to British government policy toward Iran, there were riots whereby British diplomatic properties were attacked and burned. We have seen similar things happen with other countries. Does the member agree with me that to put our diplomats into Iran at a time when the Iranian government does not follow any normal rules of engagement and to then be legitimately critical of its human rights record would further endanger the lives of our diplomats, and that there are other ways where we can engage that do not involve creating that significant risk to those who serve Canada abroad?
In the House of Commons on June 11th, 2018. See this statement in context.