Debates of Oct. 1st, 2024

Situation in Lebanon and Israel

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we have to do this because this is a major war between democracies and authoritarian states.

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

I would ask all members to look at the Chair when answering questions. I will give you signals to keep you from going over time.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I find it shocking that my colleague was not able to find even one example of how Netanyahu's administration could be criticized.

I am interested. He talked about international law. He talked about rules-based international systems. Clearly, the member would know that almost every single international expert has said the actions of the Netanyahu government have reduced the rules-based international order. Therefore, I would like the member to tell me very clearly what the Conservative Party's position is in terms of international justice. Would a Conservative government support the ICC and ICJ calls for justice that we have seen come through?

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I disagree with the premise of my hon. colleague's question. I have seen no credible reports that indicate the State of Israel has contravened international humanitarian law. I have also seen no credible reports that the State of Israel has violated customary international law—

[An hon. member]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

I ask the hon. member for Edmonton Strathcona to please hold her time until she has an opportunity to speak, when she is recognized. I insist on this for all members. This is a very sensitive issue, and I congratulate all members for being patient with each other as we explore a very sensitive issue.

The hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have seen no credible reports of the State of Israel's violating either international humanitarian law or customary international law. The number of civilians who have been, unfortunately, killed in this conflict is not an arbitrary determinant as to whether a state is complying with international law.

I remind this House that the Allies during the Second World War killed 400,000 German civilians and that was not a war crime. Those were incidental to the targeting of military objectives. I remind this House that the Luftwaffe killed 40,000 Londoners during the Second World War and every one of those deaths was a war crime because the Luftwaffe deliberately targeted civilian areas of East London and not military objectives. The number of civilian deaths, however unfortunate, is not the determinant as to whether international humanitarian law has been breached.

[Ben Carr, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, as a former history teacher, I listened with great interest to the remarks from my colleague across the way.

I actually want to shift for a moment to what is happening domestically by virtue of what is happening overseas. I wonder if my colleague can comment on some of the trends we have seen here in Canada whereby, by virtue of the way one feels about the current government of the state of Israel, there have been substantial implications for Jews, such as me and those I represent, across Canada.

Can the member speak, for example, to some of the calls for boycotting of so-called Zionist businesses and how he believes this is a problem for us here in Canada as we try in our diaspora communities to deal with the impacts of what is happening overseas?

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government should show leadership in tackling the heinous rise in anti-Semitism in our country, in tackling the disorder in our public spaces and our streets that is targeting Jews, synagogues and Jewish institutions such as schools.

I believe the public safety minister should convene a federal-provincial Solicitors General meeting in order to come to agreement among the 10 provinces and the federal government that directives will be issued, of general application to law enforcement in this country, that laws will be enforced against those who would use public disorder in our streets to target the Jewish community. That is the kind of leadership I would expect from a Government of Canada, and leadership I am convinced would be in place if Conservatives form the next government.

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to start by sharing how much I agree with the member for Wellington—Halton Hills on the importance of the rules-based order. I appreciate his focus on international humanitarian law, and I agree with him on condemning Hamas for its terrorist attack of October 7. However, my question to him is about all parties following international humanitarian law. He was looking for examples earlier, and I will cite some for him.

From Amnesty International, January 2019: “Israel's policy of settling its civilians in occupied Palestinian territory and displacing the local population contravenes fundamental rules of international humanitarian law.” That was prior to October 7. If the member is looking for post-October 7, on January 26, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take six actions to prevent acts of genocide. Clearly, we would agree that is against international humanitarian law.

Is the member going to call for international humanitarian law to be followed by all parties or only some?

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the International Court of Justice did not find that Israel had committed genocide; it just asked the State of Israel to comply with the 1948 Genocide Convention, which Israel is in the process of and has been doing.

With respect to Amnesty International's interpretation of international humanitarian law, I disagree with its interpretation of the facts on the ground. At the end of the day, there have been no credible reports that I have read that indicate the State of Israel has committed war crimes or has had grave breaches of customary international law. What I do know is that the terrorist group Hamas, in taking some 250 hostages last October 7, did commit war crimes; that is obviously a war crime. Also, Hamas, in executing and targeting some 1,100 innocent civilians, committed war crimes. Those are findings I think the international community has agreed to that adhere to Hamas, for which it should be held responsible.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to know the member's thoughts on the very idea that the government just reaffirmed its commitment to funding UNRWA. The leader of Hamas in Lebanon, who was an UNRWA schoolteacher, was buried in Hamas regalia today. What does the member think of that?

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I think the Government of Canada should immediately suspend all funding to UNRWA. It is clear that UNRWA has a problem with a certain number of employees who are supporters of Hamas and Hezbollah, and UNRWA has a problem with some of its facilities being used as staging grounds for terrorist activities, and that is why the Government of Canada should immediately suspend funding.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

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.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from the Bloc for raising a lot of great questions about the evacuation and the role the Canadian Armed Forces will play. She and I work very closely together on the national defence committee and want to ensure that the resources and capabilities are there to support the evacuation of Canadians from Lebanon.

As someone who has constituents with family in Lebanon, I want to reiterate, as many colleagues have, that if people have family there who are Canadian citizens, they should come home and find a way out as quickly as possible.

Based on the recent information about UNRWA that the leader of Hamas, who was killed in Lebanon, was working for UNRWA, does she believe that UNRWA should be defunded by the Government of Canada?

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I said at the outset that I had no intention of playing partisan politics with the matter before us this evening.

However, since I am being asked the question, I will say that what is unfortunate when we start debating whether or not to cut funding to UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, is that, ultimately, the people who would be penalized by these decisions are the ones who need our help the most.

In this context, the very question may betray a certain lack of empathy for people in extremely delicate situations. In the context of the evening's debate, I might even say it is appalling, to say the least.

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member asked a lot of good questions about things the government needs to absolutely respond to.

My question brings this back to the civilians who are being hurt amidst all of this. I have been told that many Christian villages that have no evidence of Hezbollah leaders or activists within their borders are being devastated. I wonder if she has heard the same from some of her constituents and what she has to say about that.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, fortunately I have not heard such accounts, but I know they are out there.

Unfortunately, this goes back to what I was saying earlier. Civilians are usually the first to be affected in a conflict. We have heard about the fact that the strikes are not surgical, and not just in Lebanon. There is always collateral damage. The term “collateral damage” used in the context of war is a euphemism. Unfortunately, the situation will likely escalate in the future. Conflicts harm the innocent and non-innocent alike.

I did not mention it this evening, but the Bloc Québécois has made a number of de-escalation proposals. We have called for a ceasefire in the ultimate aim of reducing the number of civilian casualties. Sadly, I am not necessarily feeling hopeful tonight. The context of the discussion we are having now does not suggest that the situation is likely to improve in the coming days.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, immediately prior to coming to this debate, I was at the Subcommittee on International Human Rights, where we are having hearings on the terrible situation in Sudan. The connection between those events and these events, and frankly much of the violence we see around the world, is the role being played by the Iranian regime, which is seeking to expand its control. It is now terrorizing the people of Lebanon through Hezbollah and the people of Palestinian territories through Hamas. It is terrorizing the people of Iran through its continuing control of Iran. It is present in Iraq, Yemen and many other places. We should have acted much earlier.

Does the member support listing the IRGC? Why was action not taken earlier?

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, I was not at the committee that my colleague sits on. However, we heard similar things at the Standing Committee on National Defence about the state of the world. It is becoming a regional conflict with various implications. We can think of the role that Iran plays in the war in Ukraine. Everything that is happening right now is sprawling.

It would be a mistake to think that we can only look at this through the lens of two countries that are firing at one another. It is much bigger than that and it involves answers that cannot be binary. It is multifactorial. We cannot allow ourselves to take such entrenched positions, either. It is much bigger than that.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will try to be as eloquent and relevant as my colleague from Saint-Jean. She gave a bit of a preview of what the Bloc Québécois will be talking about this evening. We really want to set aside all partisanship in tonight's debate. This is an emergency debate on how we can have an impact on peace in Lebanon and on the populations affected there. I commend my colleague on her speech. I will try to live up to what she has just said.

I will begin this speech by expressing my sincere and profound thoughts for all the families and people affected by the conflict we are discussing this evening. Our thoughts are with the people affected, who are all too often the first victims of these armed conflicts. As my colleague from Saint-Jean said just before me, the situation in the Middle East is alarming and getting worse by the minute.

Following a week of heavy Israeli bombing, Israel has just launched a ground offensive in Lebanon, a targeted offensive as we understand it. Thus far, Israel's air strikes have reportedly killed nearly 1,000 people and wounded more than 2,770 people as of yesterday. Earlier today, the deaths of two Canadian nationals were reported. That is what we feared the most, that the conflict would flare up at the regional level. That obviously seems to be happening. Once again, the federal government is failing to show any leadership.

I will explain. As my colleague from Saint-Jean said a little earlier, in 2006, the federal government evacuated approximately 15,000 Canadians, mainly by sea. At the time, there were between 40,000 and 50,000 Canadians in Lebanon. This intervention by the Canadian government was criticized, not for the nature of the evacuation, but for the way in which the federal government contacted and informed nationals. In 2006, the Government of Canada relied on telephone lines and Internet messaging, while a large part of the country was without power. As for the telephone lines, we were told that they were in operation only on weekdays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., which is bordering on indecency.

This poor choice of communication channels seems to be a recurring problem at the federal level when an international crisis is developing, be it an armed conflict or a natural disaster. We need only think of Haiti in 2010. It is as if the government does not learn from its mistakes.

The situation sadly unfolding before our eyes today is very similar to the one we saw during the evacuation of Afghanistan. I was on the Special Committee on Afghanistan in 2022. My fear is that Canada has not learned from its mistakes, as I just said. Once again, we are witnessing Canada's lack of leadership on the international stage.

At the risk of repeating myself and at the risk of repeating what my colleague said, I would like to say that last May, the Bloc Québécois proposed 10 measures to the Canadian government regarding the conflict in Gaza. They are as follows:

Reiterate Canada's support for an immediate ceasefire and the free flow of medical, food and humanitarian aid throughout the Gaza Strip;

Support the Arab League in its call for the creation of an international peacekeeping force to be deployed to the occupied Palestinian territories until a functional Palestinian state is established;

Adopt a full moratorium on the export of any potential military-use technology to Israel;

Apply Canada's sanctions regime to target Israeli ministers who are openly calling for crimes against humanity in Gaza and to target more extremist settlers in the West Bank;

Immediately exclude occupied territories from the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement in order to stop providing trade benefits to the illegal West Bank settlements, contributing to their economic prosperity;

Join the many countries that have recently recognized the Palestinian state by recognizing Palestine, while reiterating the support for a two-state solution;

Support the International Court of Justice and possibly the International Criminal Court to uphold international law and commit to arresting any person against whom an arrest warrant is issued and who may be on Canadian territory;

Reiterate that any deliberate obstruction of humanitarian access to Gaza is a war crime and will lead to Canadian sanctions against those responsible;

Develop and state a clear and predictable policy by Global Affairs Canada on Gaza;

Reiterate the rejection of Hamas and consider new sanctions against countries that provide logistical, financial or other support to that terrorist group.

Those are the Bloc's proposals.

We add our voice to those of the G7 countries that support the ceasefire proposal put forward by the United States and France, in the hope that a break in fighting will enable a diplomatic path to be found.

That said, this will require a sustained effort from Canada. The conflict is currently spreading to Lebanon, and Israeli air strikes are reaching as far as Beirut. Israel is scaling up its attacks and, according to many, is preparing for a ground invasion. Not only is it preparing, but it has already begun, albeit in a targeted manner. Even so, Israel is conducting ground operations in Lebanon. It is an alarming situation.

Many airlines have suspended their flights to Lebanon, which has greatly reduced the opportunities for many people, including Canadian nationals, to leave the country. According to Global Affairs Canada, there are 45,000 Canadian nationals in Lebanon, and evacuation efforts so far appear to be modest. Canada is apparently content to reserve seats on commercial flights. The federal government reported that it has reserved 800 seats on commercial flights, while, as I mentioned earlier, several airlines have cancelled their flights to Lebanon for obvious security reasons.

The Canadian government has reportedly negotiated an agreement with an airline to keep flights going, but if the airport becomes dysfunctional, I do not see how it will be possible to continue evacuating people by air. What is more, as my colleague from Saint-Jean said, Canadian nationals will have to pay full price for the reserved seats. Given the economic situation in Lebanon, that will not necessarily be easy, especially for large families. Since the Beirut airport is the only major airport in Lebanon, I am worried that many people will have to pay a lot of money and will still not be guaranteed a flight back to Canada. People will have to take the risk of paying and perhaps not being able to leave, which may make them reluctant to book flights to leave the country.

We also know that evacuation by ship could be an alternative, but only when ships are available, and we do not have any information about that. To make matters worse, Lebanon has been in the midst of an unprecedented socio-economic crisis since 2019. On August 4, 2020, an explosion devastated the city of Beirut and destroyed Lebanon's biggest port, which was also the main point of entry for the country's food imports.

I therefore have serious doubts about the ability to safely evacuate nationals by sea, given that the situation has only worsened since then. In a country already facing economic insecurity and a refugee crisis, now there are also air strikes and ground attacks.

As I said at the start of my speech, the situation is alarming and, as we have seen throughout the day, it has been steadily deteriorating. As these events unfold before our very eyes right now, my thoughts and, I believe, the thoughts of everyone in the House and those who are not here, but who sit here, are with the people who are currently living in fear, real fear. These are people who are all too often and sadly the first victims of armed conflict and who deserve to see us do everything in our power, as parliamentarians, to help them.

I urge all the parliamentarians taking part in this debate tonight to try as hard as they can to imagine a family currently hunkered down in an apartment in Beirut. I ask them to imagine a father and mother trying to protect their children. I doubt that they are aware that we are having this debate tonight. I urge all of my colleagues to think about these people and perhaps set aside some attacks that might let them score political points.

Rather than do that, I sincerely call on all my colleagues, and without any animosity, to think of these people who fear for their children's lives. I think that we can answer some of the questions asked by my colleague from Saint-Jean today if we really want to. Can we work productively with these people in mind and try to have even a small impact, even if we are thousands of kilometres away from this conflict? Are we able to sit down together, work together and save lives? That is basically what should be our greatest concern tonight. I urge my colleagues to think this way and to think of those people who are currently fearing for their lives.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I know my colleague to be a strong defender of human rights and a very serious member of Parliament. His constituents are lucky to have him.

I spent today speaking to Edmontonians and Lebanese Canadians who are very desperate to get more information on how to get their loved ones out of Lebanon. Unfortunately, right now, a lot of the application process happens online. Their loved ones have no power and no Internet access, so they are not able to complete the forms. It is chaos. Their loved ones are in a war zone, and they are so desperate to get them out, but they do not know who to turn to.

The response of the government depends, as it always does in these war situations, upon a level of stability that is currently not available in Lebanon. I am wondering what my colleague thinks the government could do to help those individuals.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, with whom I have the pleasure of working on a number of international human rights files. I know how sincere and committed she is when it comes to human rights.

To answer her question, I hope that the government realizes just how urgent and alarming the situation is. I hope the government has listened to the speeches of all my colleagues in the House today. The questions that the member for Saint-Jean asked are relevant. If we have answers to these questions, we can help the people on the ground.

I worked with my colleague from Edmonton Strathcona on the Special Committee on Afghanistan. One of the recommendations in the committee's report indicated that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and Global Affairs Canada should have a permanent emergency mechanism if a conflict erupts around the world.

This mechanism has still not been put in place by this government, which promised to do so. It is not in place yet. The government should think about that.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, a few months ago, I had the opportunity to connect with people representing the “we want to live” movement. This is a movement that should have gotten, and should still get, more attention and publicity. They are Palestinians living in Gaza who are opposing Hamas. In the summer leading up to October 7, there were significant protests of Palestinians speaking out against Hamas as part of the “we want to live” movement. They are saying that they do not want their lives to be instrumentalized in this violence. They want to be able to have normal lives where they are not constantly being instrumentalized in this struggle.

They have asked for the opportunity to not be under Hamas' oppression, to have safe spaces where they can start to build an alternative infrastructure of governance, without Hamas' oppression. I would be curious about this member's comments on that. Are there ways we could support these movements by supporting efforts to rid Palestinian territories of terrorist organizations such as Hamas?

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this is a question that I find a bit troubling because, in the same question, my colleague says that there is a group that is tired of being instrumentalized and wants to confront Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which I support wholeheartedly. These are people who have the courage to say things and who do not want to be instrumentalized.

Now, this evening, we are engaged in an emergency debate that calls on us to have an impact on peace in Lebanon and to do something about populations in danger, especially Canadian citizens in Lebanon. How can we help them get out of there?

What I have just heard is my colleague instrumentalizing a group for partisan purposes in a debate that has nothing to do with the question that I was asked.