Mr. Speaker, I join with the members of the other parties in expressing our solidarity with the people of New Zealand as they go through the terrible ordeal they currently have to face.
Once again last Friday, people around the world were horrified by the hateful act of a terrorist who robbed 50 innocent people of their lives in Christchurch, New Zealand. Fifty people were killed simply because they wanted to practise their religion in peace.
On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I wish to extend my deepest condolences to the victims' loved ones, the citizens of Christchurch and the people of the Muslim faith. Muslims there, like here, feel less safe today than they did yesterday.
I wish them the courage they will need to get through this ordeal. I want to tell them that we stand with them, that we join everyone else around the world who stands in solidarity with them. I want them to know that humanity will triumph over this horror and hate.
I want to tell them that, despite their pain, they will see that their community is full of heroes, people like Abdul Aziz, more than they could have imagined, people willing to sacrifice everything for their fellow humans, and that together they will find the strength to face every new day.
The Christchurch tragedy shows that we need to remember that hatred toward Muslims is unacceptable and must be condemned at every opportunity. It is important to reiterate that. We need to condemn every word before it poisons the atmosphere, before that atmosphere turns into irreparable acts, before the actions taken by a murderer in Sainte-Foy become an inscription on the gun of a terrorist in New Zealand, on the other side of the world. That is our responsibility, one that we must fulfill in memory of all those who lost their lives in Christchurch.
It is important to remember that everyone has the right to worship as they see fit, should they choose to do so, without any fear for their safety. Everyone has the right to worship freely. That is one of the pillars of our society, of our rule of law. It is one of the most fundamental freedoms of the western world, one that must be upheld at any cost.
We must remember that freedom that unites us and tirelessly condemn the hate speech that divides us. We need to condemn those words of hate before they take root. We need to tirelessly condemn the conspiracy theories that cloud the judgment of the easily impressionable. That is everyone's responsibility and we must fulfill it in memory of all those who lost their lives, not only in Christchurch, but also in Sainte-Foy, at the École Polytechnique, in Paris, in Nice, in Charleston, in Pittsburgh, in Norway and anywhere else where hatred momentarily won out over compassion.