Debates of Oct. 1st, 2024

Situation in Lebanon and Israel

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Madam Speaker, the minister said, “The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation.” Given the missile attacks launched by the Iranian regime today, I think we can agree that the minister's statement was prescient and accurate.

The minister also went on to add, a few days ago, in the same address to the UN, “We are concerned that a war between Israel and Hezbollah would have devastating consequences, while adding to the already severe humanitarian, economic and political crises in Lebanon.” The minister was also prescient on that particular point.

Over the past week, over one million people have been displaced in Lebanon. In addition, we have also witnessed tens of thousands of Israelis having to evacuate their homes in the north of Israel. The suffering on all sides needs to end. All parties must respect UN Security Council resolution 1701. The UN's Blue Line buffer zone has been violated, and it is integral that Israel and Hezbollah agree to an immediate ceasefire that would allow Israeli and Lebanese civilians to return to their homes and live in peace.

Such a humanitarian situation is clearly unsustainable. The longer the conflict rages, the more innocent lives will be scarred by it and the deeper those scars will be. At a time like this, we must all take a moment to reflect on the devastation we have been watching in the region over the past year after the heinous terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel's invasion of Gaza that followed. We should all be horrified to see innocent Israeli and Palestinian civilians pay the ultimate price for the failure of a much-needed ceasefire. We have been watching extremists on all sides dictate the course of the conflict.

Over 100 Israeli hostages have yet to return home from captivity at the hands of the terrorist entity Hamas. In addition, the fighting has displaced practically the entire population of the Gaza Strip. If there is one lesson to be learned from the experience of the past year, it is that innocent Palestinians, women and children, should not have to bear the price of defeating Hamas. By the same token, Lebanese civilians should not bear the consequences of Hezbollah's terrorist actions. Rather, the Lebanese should have the right to live in peace and security throughout Lebanon.

Therefore our government must remain steadfast in affirming our wholehearted commitment to an immediate ceasefire and to ensuring that we are taking concrete diplomatic steps to achieve the same. This includes leveraging our influence in the region to pressure all sides to de-escalate. We should all remain committed to humanitarian relief and medical aid for all displaced civilians in the region. Canada should never aid and abet violence. We owe it to the Lebanese—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The parliamentary secretary to the foreign affairs minister is rising on a point of order.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Madam Speaker, the member is sharing his time. He just needs to put it in his speech.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Madam Speaker, I was about to say that we owe it to the Lebanese, Palestinian and Israeli people to join our allies in the international community to secure peace and stability in the region, as well as that I am sharing my time with the hon. member for Don Valley West.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Willowdale for sharing his time with me.

I start out tonight by saying that there are few countries that are closer to my heart than Lebanon. There have been few people closer to my heart than the Lebanese people since my very first trip, when I spent time there in 1982, and experienced the war with people in Lebanon. The most recent outbreak of violence that has happened there is part of a long-standing cycle of some 50 years of chaos, interruption, war, civil conflict and international conflict, which has continued to plague the people of Lebanon.

October 7, however, was a watershed moment. The attack by Hamas on Israel and Israelis was a heinous, horrendous crime against humanity and a crime against the people of Israel. Hezbollah, its sibling terrorist organization, has been launching rockets at Israel ever since. Today's attack on Israel by Iran, a state sponsor of terror, is devastating.

We have reports of hundreds of long-range ballistic missiles, some of which have hit Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. As a government, we unequivocally condemn this new and unprecedented escalation, which has forced millions of Israelis and Lebanese, as well as Palestinians, to take shelter. We want it to be absolutely clear in the House that we affirm Israel's right to defend itself within international law. Attacks by Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran against Israel kill not only Israelis but also civilians in other countries; they destabilize the region, and they risk turning this into a wider regional war.

Canada will do everything in its power to continue to hold Iran accountable for its role in funding terrorist organizations. We are one of five countries that have named the IRGC as a terrorist organization. We urge all parties involved to respect international humanitarian law, to protect civilians, to protect humanitarian workers and to avoid any action that could ignite this war further.

We are gravely concerned about civilians in Lebanon tonight, thousands of whom are Canadians. The safety and security of Canadians at home and abroad is our top priority. This does not mean we value one human life over another; rather, as a government, we have a particular responsibility to protect Canadian citizens.

We were devastated by the death of two Canadians, Hussein and Daad Tabaja, who were killed by an IDF air strike while fleeing Beirut. All they sought was to live in security, with peace and dignity. We will continue to help Canadians escape Lebanon, to ensure that they reach safety and peace and to give them advice and warnings to get out of the country as quickly as possible, before this conflict spreads even further.

This is a conflict that has been going on, as has been said in the House, for decades. We owe it to the people of Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and the region to make tangible progress towards peace and stability. How do we do this? It is more than words, but we begin with diplomacy.

War kills people, not ideas. Diplomacy allows people to change their minds, for ideas to develop; ultimately, diplomacy does lead to peace. This past year, Canada has been exploring every possible avenue to ensure a diplomatic solution to the crisis in the Middle East, and it will continue to help solve the problem between Hezbollah and Israel. Immediate action to stop the violence is urgently necessary. We are committed to working with the international community to help advance peace in the region. Alongside our allies, we have called for a 21-day ceasefire along the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy and conversation.

We are also pushing for full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon. Our Prime Minister has been working this issue, working the phones and having conversations with leaders around the world, in search of a diplomatic solution. In just the last few days, the Prime Minister has had the opportunity to discuss the problem between Hezbollah and Israel, as well as the attack on Israel by Hezbollah, with the Prime Minister of Lebanon and the King of Jordan.

Last week, our Minister of Foreign Affairs was in New York for the 79th United Nations General Assembly. She called upon all parties, including the governments of Israel and Lebanon, to endorse a temporary ceasefire immediately. We are dealing with terrorist organizations, so diplomacy is particularly challenging, but rhetoric in this place does not change that reality. We still need to use all the tools we have in the diplomatic tool box to find a solution to a long-standing, generation-after-generation conflict.

Our foreign affairs minister continues to talk to the Prime Minister and foreign ministers of Lebanon, the G7 foreign ministers and the Israeli foreign minister, and her message has been consistent and clear: We must see a de-escalation of tensions at the border between Lebanon and Israel, and we will continue to defend Israel's right to protect itself.

While we have been doing this diplomatic work, we have also been engaging in humanitarian assistance. The conditions in Lebanon are worsening every day. We have been working in a way to try to get humanitarian aid into Gaza. We are continuing to work in the West Bank, we are continuing to work with women, particularly victims in Israel, and we will continue to work in Lebanon.

On Saturday, the government announced an additional $10 million in humanitarian assistance to address the urgent needs of civilians affected by this conflict. This funding will provide food, water, emergency health care, protection services and other life-saving aid. In addition to the $10 million already allocated by the United Nations central emergency response fund, Canada's total humanitarian assistance for Lebanon in 2024 is $37 million.

We are working at this diplomatically with conversations every day. We are working at this in defence of Israel and working to combat terrorist organizations, which are a scourge on this planet. We are also working with Canadian citizens to help get them out of Lebanon. We have done that in Gaza with great difficulty. We have done that in Israel. We have done that in the West Bank, and we are now trying to do that in Lebanon. It is not easy with a terrorist organization like Hezbollah, but we have been very clear with Canadians that they should get out while commercial flights are available. We have announced an additional 800 seats today over the course of the next three days that Canadians, permanent residents and immediate family have access to. There is a flight scheduled to depart today.

We will continue to work through every possible channel for the safety of civilians in Israel, West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon. The situation can deteriorate, so we will continue to provide diplomatic solutions and offer the best that Canada has to offer to ensure that we find ways for this conversation to continue.

There are no easy solutions to this problem. There are no easy answers to it. There can be rhetoric, there can be name-calling and there can be blaming, but rest assured that everyone on this side of the House, and I believe on that side of the House too, believes in Israel's right to defend itself within international law. We believe in the right for civilians to have safety and peace and humanitarian assistance and the right to live a good life. We all share that.

This conflict will not be solved by this debate tonight, but what can be solved tonight is to find a way to bring Canadians together to look at the needs of every person living in the region and to understand that we have to find a way to do that. Rhetoric that divides will not help. Rhetoric that brings us together will help. We will continue to do that.

[An hon. member]

Oh, oh!

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Madam Speaker, heckling aside, the Prime Minister and the foreign affairs minister are working day and night, not making speeches in this House and not giving facile answers like the Conservatives, but trying to find ways to heal broken people, to solve an intractable situation and to have the community of nations build peace for each other. We are going to do that on this side of the House.

I believe that members of goodwill on every side of the House can work together. We promise to do our best. Let us find a way to do that together.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Madam Speaker, the member just said that Israel has a right to defend itself. Israel was attacked by terrorist entities, Hamas and Hezbollah. Today, during question period, a very simple question was put to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Minister of Foreign Affairs refused to answer it during question period, so I would like to give my hon. colleague an opportunity to do so. It is a very simple question: Does Israel have a right to destroy the terrorist organizations that have attacked it? In other words, does Israel have a right, in the government's view, to destroy Hamas and Hezbollah?

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Madam Speaker, I have been around here too long to fall into traps set by the Conservatives on this issue. The reality is that Israel has a right to defend itself, and there are international laws that they also need to follow. Israeli citizens tell me that every day. Jews in Canada tell me that every day. They understand the rule of law.

Israel is a democracy. Israel will follow the rule of law. Israelis have divided opinions at times, as does any democracy. However, we will continue to defend Israel's right to protect itself within international law.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Madam Speaker, so many Lebanese Canadians are watching what is happening, and when I spoke to some this afternoon, they were telling me how horrified they were that there were components and military goods still being shipped from Canada. There is still a need for an arms embargo on Israel so that those weapons cannot be used against innocent civilians.

I believe the member wants to stop the bloodshed, stop the war and work toward peace. However, the minister has promised an arms embargo, yet she has still not made public a notice to arms exporters. I am wondering when Lebanese Canadians and all Canadians can expect to see that posted. It should take about 30 seconds for the minister to put that online.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Madam Speaker, I believe the minister has actually been very clear on this issue. She has been very clear that, when it comes to export permits, we have absolutely not given any new export permits since January 8. However, we will also always support Israel's security, and that includes permits for the Iron Dome.

This is a complex situation. Again, we will make sure that there are no new permits. However, we also recognize that there are safety and security concerns, and Canada will be mindful of them as well.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Madam Speaker, does Israel have the right, within the confines of international law, to destroy the terrorist organizations of Hamas and Hezbollah?

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Madam Speaker, Israel has a right to defend itself within international law.

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Madam Speaker, there have been quite a lot of attacks this evening against the UNRWA funding from the government. As a member of Parliament who actually got to visit and see the direct impact that these schools can have, I am interested to hear the member's comments on the continued support for UNRWA from the government.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Madam Speaker, our government's position has been very clear. While UNRWA is an imperfect organization, it is the best organization to provide aid and assistance to Palestinian refugees around the world. That includes education and essential services. We need to ensure the safety of every one of their employees to make sure that they can do their work.

It is a UN organization. Canada is a proud member of the United Nations. We will continue to support UNRWA.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Madam Speaker, I just want to point out how disappointing it is that a government that tries to present itself as an ally of the only democracy in the region, of standing shoulder to shoulder with a people and a country that have been subject to the worst attacks that human beings have been able to conceive of, will not unequivocally and clearly state that the country, Israel, and its people have a right not only to defend themselves, but to destroy those who attack it over and over again. We are not talking about squabbles over natural resources or where borders should be drawn. We are talking about terrorist organizations that deny Israel's right to exist at all, and that state in their charter that they not only want to dismantle the state of Israel, but they want to end Jewish lives.

When this member, this foreign minister and this government cannot unequivocally state that, when faced with those types of threats and attacks, Israel does not have the right to destroy terrorist organizations is to deny to Israel what every other state in the world would claim for itself. Let us make no mistake, if Canada or our NATO allies were continuously subjected to terrorist attacks, rocket launches and missile launches, not only would we defend ourselves, but we, as a people, would demand that our government destroy those who are perpetrating such acts of terror.

However, this is a pattern from this government. We saw this when the head of Hezbollah, Nasrallah, was eliminated. World leaders around the globe, who have a wide range of views on the conflict in the Middle East, were all united on the idea that Nasrallah headed up a terrorist organization, that he was responsible for the loss of many innocent lives, including 240 American lives and dozens of French lives, and the list goes on and on. We do not have time in the short amount of time left to us to enumerate all the atrocities that Hezbollah has committed and all the innocent lives that were lost at its hand. However, this Prime Minister basically put out a statement, which was probably was written by AI or copied and pasted from Wikipedia. It made no mention of the justice that was done and the relief that many people felt that this terrorist leader had finally been eliminated.

I grew up in Ottawa, and there is a very significant Lebanese population in Ottawa. I have known many people whose families fled here after Hezbollah started to destabilize that country. Lebanon had a long history of a wonderful quality of life and relative peace and security. Beirut used to be called the Paris of the Middle East until IRGC-backed terrorist entities like Hezbollah started to infiltrate Lebanese society, weaken the Government of Lebanon and basically act as a parallel state, handing out its own form of perverse justice to those who opposed its radical agenda and perpetrating crimes against its own people. Hezbollah and Nasrallah himself aided the genocidal and psychopathic regime in Syria that had committed so many war crimes against its own people. Yet, we see this moral equivalency from the government after the news of Nasrallah's death was made public, and we see it again tonight on display here.

In closing, I will just basically say that it is very clear that on this side of the House, we stand for human rights, we stand for the rule of law and the rule of international law, and we recognize Israel's right to exist and Israel's right to dismantle those entities that have their stated purpose as the elimination of Israel and the death of Jewish people. On that side of the House, we have a Prime Minister who says one thing to one group of people and another thing to a different group of people, because he will not take a principled stand. That is the choice that Canadians have, and we know where the Canadian people stand. They stand on the right side of history, they stand on the side of innocent human beings who are just trying to defend themselves, just trying to carve out a small place on the planet where the Jewish people can live in peace and security, and that is where the Conservatives stand as well.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

It being midnight, I declare the motion carried. Accordingly, this House stands adjourned until later this day at 2 p.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(Motion agreed to)

(The House adjourned at 12 a.m.)