Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity to rise and speak to honour the victims of the flight 752 tragedy.
This has been an unspeakable tragedy for the Iranian Canadian community and a disaster for Canada. It is the kind of tragedy and disaster that will be forever etched in our minds and in the history of this country.
The horrible irony of loss is that it reminds us of the value of life. We were all captured by the stories told by the survivors, by the loved ones and families of those who have been lost.
We all remember when Ryan Pourjam spoke about his dad, Mansour Pourjam. In eloquent tone and eloquent words, this young boy talked about a father who was so optimistic, giving and kind and he was lost and gone forever.
In Richmond, I attended an event where a father spoke about the indescribable rage and sadness at losing both his daughter and his granddaughter. In Coquitlam, I spoke to members of the community who spoke about their family members, their cousins and their friends who were lost. In this tragedy, it was a loss to the Iranian community and it was a horrible loss to Canada as well.
We look at the people who were lost in this flight, the students, Ph.D. students, health care workers, educators, entrepreneurs, future doctors and folks who work in real estate and finance sectors. These were people who did not only have great potential for their own lives, but had tremendous potential to give back to all of us, to enrich our country and it was a loss to all of us.
I remember a story recounted by a member of the Iranian community when we attended an event in Richmond. The story was told from the perspective of U.S. visitors who were in an airport in transit in Canada when the news broke. As the news broke on TV, the U.S. travellers noted that everyone was silent. It was a pin-drop silence in hearing the news and it could be seen visibly that people were shaken and broken, with tears streaming down their faces. He asked people there if they knew any of the people, as he was concerned that maybe they were relatives. No one in the room knew anyone on the flight personally, but they said they were one of us, Canadians. The traveller was struck by the fact that Canadians stood together.
As other speakers have mentioned, Canadians did come together in a powerful way. That is who we are. We come together in times of need. I was struck by the power, grace and beauty of so many Canadians acknowledging this as a loss to Canada.
My parents taught me a traditional teaching, that the weight of sadness cannot be borne alone. It is too much. The loss and the pain is too much for one person to bear and that is why we attend events of sadness to share in that pain, to share that burden together. As Canadians, that is what we have done and will continue to do for our brothers and sisters who have lost loved ones.
The community has called for continual steps to achieve justice. The pursuit of justice in this matter is important and New Democrats are committed to seeking that justice.
I want to acknowledge the Prime Minister who reached out after these horrible events and we had a good conversation. I want to acknowledge that gesture and the steps to support loved ones of those who have been lost.
In the memory of those who have lost, I call on all of us to acknowledge their loss by working for peace. The loss that we witnessed is an example of the horrible cost of war, the horrible cost of escalation of tension and violence. Violence begets more violence. It is incredibly important for all of us to commit to peace and stability in the region, in the memory of those who have been lost.
I want the victims' loved ones to know that, at this difficult time, they can count on all of us, the NDP and all parliamentarians, to do everything we can to support them.
In the weeks and months to come, we must also do everything in our power to ensure that this kind of senseless tragedy never happens again.
To the Iranian community, I want to end by saying on behalf of all New Democrats, they have our condolences. We stand with them. We want to shoulder the burden with them.
[Member spoke in Farsiand provided the following translation:]
Friend, I give you my condolences.
[English]
