Madam Speaker, I am strong, proud and ready as the member of Parliament for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke representing Garrison Petawawa. I rise to defend the honour and reputations of the women and men who serve as members of the Canadian Armed Forces, particularly when the government refuses to do so.
The very reputation of Canada is at stake. On May 4, I asked the Prime Minister why he had not acted on the very disturbing evidence of war crimes. Responding on behalf of the Prime Minister, the defence minister once again claimed ignorance.
For the government, ignorance seems to be the only answer. How embarrassing for an image-obsessed Prime Minister that the head of the vaccine rollout in Canada, Major-General Dany Fortin, would be the flag officer responsible for informing the department about war crimes.
How lucky for the Prime Minister that he was sitting on another allegation of sexual misconduct. By sweeping up General Fortin into the Prime Minister's sexual misconduct scandal, the government's propaganda machine went into overdrive to bury the war crimes allegation crisis. First job: Get General Fortin out of the limelight by throwing him under the sexual misconduct bus. Next, signal to the subsidized media to cover up the story. Then pray by the time the Prime Minister pushes pandemic Canada into an unwanted election the war crimes allegation is swept under the rug: a rug now bulging with the Liberal sexual misconduct scandal, WE Charity, SNC-Lavalin and Mark Norman. This rug cannot cover much more.
Canadians have another example of the Prime Minister's failure to show leadership. According to the Canadian Armed Forces briefing note, the graphic images included raping a woman to death, torturing and executing a line of bound prisoners by beating them to death with what appeared to be rebar, executing bound prisoners by shooting, and executing a man by hanging him from the barrel of a battle tank. At least seven Canadian non-commissioned officers viewed the footage. To their credit, they immediately reported the situation to their superiors, with General Dany Fortin being at the top as commander for NATO Mission Iraq.
The defence minister's own press secretary, Jordan Owens, confirmed that when it comes to situations of armed conflict, members of the Canadian Armed Forces receive a rigorous pre-deployment training with respect to the Geneva convention and international law. Canadians are proud of the fact that a Conservative prime minister, Brian Mulroney, signed the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
There is an obligation to report, as a signatory to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. All trained soldiers know that article 50 of the Geneva convention prohibits acts of willful killing, torture or inhumane treatment of prisoners. Under the leadership of a Conservative prime minister, Canada was an early champion of this international law that exists to prevent torture in civilian and military detention centres.
Sadly, under the Liberal government, Canada has become an international laggard when it comes to things like torture and cruel treatment. As a follow-up to this convention, the UN developed the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, OPCAT. Canada has still not officially adopted that agreement. If Canada is complicit in torture, how can we credibly promote human rights?
We have heard before from the parliamentary secretary on the sexual misconduct scandal. I hope this time the House will hear something other than the excuse, “We did not know”.