Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by mentioning that I will be sharing my time with the member for Lac-Saint-Jean.
In this evening's debate, I think that certain observations are absolutely in order at the outset. First of all, this evening, no matter how carefully we comb though the causes of the conflict that started on October 7, one thing cannot be denied: Lebanon is currently in a war zone and, despite all the requests made in the House, despite all the positions taken by the various parties, whether or not they were consensus based, and despite the calls made by elected officials and communities, the situation is escalating. Nothing that we have done, asked for or wished for in the past is going to change anything that is happening now. The conflict is spreading across the region, and now there is a state of emergency, hence the need for this evening's debate.
Another observation is that, despite the fact that relatively few Canadian nationals in Lebanon have availed themselves of the options to leave the country so far, we must not forget that Canada has certain obligations towards its citizens. We cannot begin to judge the reasons why a Canadian citizen or national would choose not to leave Lebanon or choose to head to Lebanon from Canada. We also cannot assume that, since there are currently 45,000 Canadian nationals in Lebanon, we need to get 45,000 out of there. We will not be able to pick people up from their homes. Some may have specific reasons for staying where they are. We cannot criticize or judge those reasons. We do not know everyone's story. We do not know who has a sick mother who is not a Canadian citizen and who they need to stay with. We cannot know when a father will decide to come back because he is starting to realize that if he stays, he will leave two orphans at home. Canada's obligation is to be ready to respond as soon as a Canadian national asks to leave Lebanon.
Another observation that must be made is that, unfortunately, Canada has had a less-than-stellar evacuation record as of late. There are lessons to be learned from the past, and tonight, many questions remain. Consider the evacuation that took place in 2006. Canada was criticized when messages sent to expats did not reach them after the power cuts because there was no Internet service and the telephone network was only accessible on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. It is good that the government moved relatively quickly and with increasing insistence in July and August to call on Canadian nationals to leave Lebanon. For the future, however, there are still many questions to be answered, and that is what I am going to focus on this evening. Unfortunately, we do not have all the answers, but there are many questions.
I am going to start with a brief overview of the situation. Based on current estimates, between 40,000 and 45,000 Canadian nationals are in Lebanon. We know that about half of them, or 20,000, have registered with consular services. About 4,000 have registered with Global Affairs Canada to be kept informed of their options for leaving the country. We know that flights currently chartered by Canada are not 100% full, not at maximum capacity. We know that some people are going in the opposite direction, leaving Canada to go to Lebanon.
As members of Parliament, we likely have a lot of questions. After all, we do not have the same expertise or knowledge of the terrain as Global Affairs Canada or the Canadian Armed Forces may have. I hope that what I am going to speak to this evening will elicit a reflection and bring forward factors we had not considered before. So much the better if tonight's debate raises additional questions or sheds light on blind spots that we may not have known about.
I was talking about the issue of the channels of communication. Is there a contingency plan in the event of telephone or Internet outages? Has any thought been given to getting media outlets that are still active on the ground in Lebanon to inform Canadian nationals about the options that are still available for leaving the country?
What is happening with the Canadian embassy in Lebanon? As we know, in Kabul, the government was quick to close the embassy, which left many individuals without access to important consular services. What is currently happening with the embassy, and what are the plans for the future?
What is being done for Canadian nationals whose travel documents or whose family member's documents are not up to date? Are there any options for fast-tracking these applications? We know that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is not exactly the most efficient machine in the world. Has any thought been given to a contingency plan for people who might not have travel documents?
As I mentioned, at the moment, the supply of charter flights exceeds the demand, but this could change. Is there a contingency plan for increasing the number of charter flights if necessary? Is there any flexibility? Above all, is there a list of people who will get priority for flights if the situation changes and demand ends up exceeding supply? As we saw with the Afghanistan evacuation, the issue of prioritization became a problem that we will be talking about for the foreseeable future.
Do we know whether the cost of airline tickets is stopping some families from flying out? We know that Canadian citizens are being asked to pay about $445 to board. Payment plans are available, but how effective are they? We know the economic situation in Lebanon. Does a family of four, for example, have four times $445 at their disposal to buy airline tickets right now?
Right now, commercial flights are less and less available. More and more flights are being cancelled. Is there a contingency plan in case there are no more commercial flights? There is the possibility of a maritime evacuation. That was raised. However, what is the current state of the port of Beirut? We know that there have been many logistical problems since the explosion.
Are the plans for a maritime evacuation to Cyprus, which took in approximately 60,000 people in 2006, ready?
We went from 50 soldiers on the ground to 200, but is it enough? Do we have the capacity to deploy more troops if necessary? For example, the United Kingdom has currently mobilized 700 people to potentially evacuate 4,000 to 6,000 British nationals who are in Lebanon. We see that the U.K.'s proportion is much higher than Canada's. Is our mobilization capacity adequate?
Are permanent residents and Canadian citizens the only ones who can leave the country? For example, would someone who has a mother, a spouse, or a child who is not yet a citizen be allowed to leave the country with the rest of their family? This could affect their decision to leave the country. How much is Canada co-operating with other countries? Australia, for example, already has a maritime evacuation plan and the capacity to transport 1,000 people a day on commercial cargo ships. Do we have partnerships with these countries, or with France, for example, which already has military ships in the region and has had an evacuation plan for several months, but has just not issued an evacuation order yet? Is Canada working with these countries?
Finally, not everyone still has family or a home base in Canada or Quebec. Is there a plan in place to welcome these people who have left their country? This can also affect their decision to leave a country in a state of war.
In short, many questions remain unanswered. In the meantime, I would like to remind the House of the Bloc Québécois' attitude on this issue. On the one hand, we support the Minister of Foreign Affairs' calls for Canadian nationals to leave the country. We are asking citizens to do so as much as possible while they can. We pledge not to play needless partisan politics on the evacuation issue. Our speeches tonight show that we will keep a very close eye on this issue. We hope that we have offered some food for thought regarding what still needs to be done on the evacuation front. Right now, we are seeing only the tip of the iceberg, and unfortunately, the situation may deteriorate.
Above all, we would like to take this opportunity to reiterate our best wishes to the Canadian nationals and Lebanese population as a whole who are currently living through an appalling situation that they are not responsible for and that may deteriorate considerably in the days to come.