House of Commons Hansard #346 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was lebanon.
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Mr. Speaker, we know that there are tens of thousands of Canadians at risk of death or injury in Lebanon. Why has this government not done what is necessary to prevent this invasion and this bombing?
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on her question in French.
I think that the current federal Liberal government has failed in recent international crises. We are having a debate tonight, and there is a chance for them to do the right thing. They should seize this opportunity, listen to the proposals from the opposition parties and get to work.
Ya'ara Saks LiberalMinister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health
Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Brampton Centre.
In light of today, I want to start my comments tonight by stating that Canada unequivocally condemns Iran's reckless attack against Israel. This attack demonstrates yet again the Iranian regime's disregard for peace and stability in the region. It has put civilians at risk, forcing millions across countries into bomb shelters in search of safety, and it only seeks to further escalate the conflict. Israel has the right to defend itself and its people. Canada fully supports Israel's right to defend itself against this attack, and we call for the safety of all civilians in Israel and Lebanon.
We are only a few days away from the one-year anniversary of October 7, the day of the deadliest attack on Israeli soil. We continue to feel the immense pain and grief experienced by so many on October 7, and in the devastating 361 days since, when eight Canadians lost their lives at the hands of Hamas. We mourn their loss, not only as a Jewish community, but also as Canadians.
For 361 days, daughters, sons, sisters and brothers, mothers, fathers and grandparents have been held hostage in Gaza by Hamas. Their families, and we all, demand for them to come home. There can be no resolution without the return of the hostages.
On October 7, that tragic day, 1,100 lives were lost, and the loss of life every day since has been horrific. So many families have suffered in so many different parts of the world and in so many communities, including here in Canada. As Jon Polin, father of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a member of my home community in Jerusalem, said so well, “in a competition of pain, there are no winners.” There is only the loss of loved ones.
We continue to call for all hostages to be released, for Hamas to lay down its arms, for international law to be respected, for civilians not to be used as human shields and for the escalating violence in the region to end. The escalation of violence today and over the last several weeks does nothing but further perpetuate the cycle of violence that harms everyone in the region.
The violence and attacks perpetrated by Hezbollah on Israeli soil are unacceptable, but we must remember that this is not a new front to this war. Lebanon has been held in the grips of Hezbollah for decades, impacting the lives of Israeli and Lebanese civilians for years.
Hezbollah is a terrorist organization backed by Iran. This horrific war and its escalation did not happen in a vacuum. Within days of October 7, Hezbollah began launching rockets into northern Israel, escalating the conflict, creating a two-front war and resulting in more than 70,000 Israelis being displaced. This escalation served to upend the lives of Lebanese civilians who live along its border. It created devastation and continues to disrupt the lives of Lebanese and Israelis alike.
It is not enough to say that the violence has to stop and that there needs to be a ceasefire, because if, at the end of this ceasefire and the cessation of violence, Hamas and Hezbollah are still armed, then we have gotten ourselves no closer to ending this cycle of violence. This is why a two-state solution is imperative. This is why recognizing terrorist organizations for what they are is critical to understanding that, in a multilateral world, these are not militias or state actors. These are terrorist organizations that do not play by the rules of what we recognize as a rules-based order. They put civilians at risk.
The cost they exact on civilian populations for their own agenda is what we need to recognize and fight against. They use the lives of civilians, of children and of families. They use their lives and the infrastructure in the homes they live in to wage a war of terror on civilians across the region. That the value of civilian lives is irrelevant in the terror they exact is what we need to recognize and address. The people of Lebanon deserve to live in peace and security, free from conflict and from Hezbollah's Iran-backed terrorism, as do Israelis and Palestinians.
The populations of the region deserve nothing less than our collective support as an international community to end this conflict. The only way forward is a safe and secure future for Israelis and Palestinians and a lasting two-state solution. On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, let us take pause in understanding what needs to be demanded in the context of a ceasefire. It is not as simple as demanding for the violence to stop. It is about ensuring that, in the days after, Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace, security and dignity because all civilians have a right to live within their homes and in their communities.
Tomorrow, Jewish communities will hear the sound of the shofar. It is blown every year to mark the beginning of the new year for all to hear. It is a spiritual awakening of a sort, but the shofar has also been known to be used as a call to war. As we head into the year of 5785, I want to wish for Jewish communities throughout the world that the shofar be blown as a symbol of peace, and that we no longer need the sirens of war. Shana tova, and may the new year bring peace and security for all in the region.
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the member about the role the Iranian regime is playing in instigating violence against Israel, against peoples throughout the Middle East and, of course, against the people of Iran itself.
Six years ago, the House passed a motion calling on the government to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization. In fact, members of the government present that day voted in favour of the motion. However, it took six years for there to be any implementation of the motion. Unfortunately, in the intervening time, we have seen the further expansion of that regime's influence, the further empowering of terrorist organizations, which have continued to victimize people throughout the region and, in fact, here in Canada. We never got an answer from the government throughout that time on what its plans were.
In retrospect, does the member believe the government should have listed the IRGC much earlier and that more could have been done to limit its terroristic reach if it had been put on that terrorist list when the House initially voted to do so?
Ya'ara Saks Liberal York Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, I will simply say this: I do not deal in the world of hypotheticals. I deal in the world as it is, and for every decision to list a terrorist organization, there is a very careful and highly secure process of intelligence gathering and preparation that must be done. I trust the government to do that work to ensure that it lists every organization as a terrorist organization responsibly.
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, the minister mentioned that she does not deal in the world of hypotheticals. I would like to ask her a very non-hypothetical question.
As we speak, there are people in Lebanon who are not a party to the conflict and who are becoming victims of it. They may be wondering how they will be able to leave the country once they have made the decision to do so, regardless of their reasons for staying at this time.
Does she feel that her government has learned from the past? Does she have one priority area that the government should work on, in terms of evacuating Lebanese nationals when they request it?
Ya'ara Saks Liberal York Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, as in any war situation, getting people out to safety is extremely difficult, as was mentioned by a number of members already this evening. Also, the decision to leave is hard. I grew up in war. I know how hard it is to leave family and loved ones and the place I cherished behind.
That being said, the government has been very clear for months that there was a fear of escalation in the region and for people from Canada who wanted to visit family back home to take pause on that choice, and if they made that choice, that they make plans to be able to leave. This conversation with Lebanese Canadians has been going on for months.
Nevertheless, we understand the responsibility to get civilians out who are Canadian. We are doing what we can, but at this point my understanding is there are still options to get out and we are assisting as much as we can. Can we do more? We can always do more. In a conflict zone, it is challenging.
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Mr. Speaker, I want to express my sadness and sympathy to the member. I know that she has family in Israel and that what she has suffered over the last number of months has been horrific.
I also want to acknowledge that Jewish people, Palestinian people, Muslims and Arabs across this country have faced incredible racism and discrimination. Even within the House, the member has been a victim of discrimination and of horrific hate speech, in my opinion.
I want to give the member my sympathy and express my support for her.
Ya'ara Saks Liberal York Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, what is so special about this place is that we talk and debate. We do not always agree, and sometimes we do not agree quite strongly. At the same time, our job as parliamentarians is to build bridges in communities, to see others' pain and help in the process of healing and making our country stronger.
Shafqat Ali Liberal Brampton Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, I rise to address the situation in Lebanon. The armed conflict is intensifying and widening. The first duty of any government is to protect its citizens from harm. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and her department have been asking Canadian citizens and permanent residents to leave Lebanon as soon as possible. For months, she has been warning that the war could expand. Beyond warnings, the minister and her department have also secured hundreds of seats on flights to safety for Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
The Minister of Immigration is also working hard to ensure that Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Lebanon whose documents are out of date will be able to renew their documents and fly out of the conflict zone.
Because of the war, the Canada Border Services Agency is issuing a temporary halt on removals to Lebanon.
According to the Global Affairs website:
Canada and Lebanon have strong ties. The Lebanese community in Canada includes between 200,000 and 400,000 people and an estimated 40,000-75,000 Canadians live in Lebanon. The relationship is strengthened by close cultural ties and common participation in La Francophonie.
Canada is represented in Lebanon by its embassy in Beirut and increased its diplomatic presence there in response to the crisis in Syria. Lebanon is represented in Canada by its embassy in Ottawa.
Since 2016, Canada has committed over $475 million to support Lebanon’s stability and resilience as it copes with the effects of the conflicts in Iraq and Syria and the catastrophic explosion at the Beirut port in 2020. Lebanon now hosts more than an estimated 865,350 Syrian refugees that have been added to the country’s already existing refugee population, which also includes Palestinians, Iraqis and Kurds.
It goes on to state:
Between 2016 and 2022 Canada will have committed over $4 billion [in] humanitarian, development, military, and stabilization and security assistance for the region, including Lebanon, with an emphasis on building stability, governance, and long-term resilience.
In the immediate aftermath of the August 4, 2020 explosion of the Port of Beirut, Canada provided $30 million in emergency humanitarian assistance and early-recovery support, and then announced another $20 million in August 2021 to support the economic recovery of Beirut. This funding has helped trusted partners address immediate humanitarian needs and is supporting efforts for early recovery and resilience.
It also states:
Canada’s support of Lebanon’s security and social stability includes projects that aim to reduce tensions between refugees and host communities under pressures, as well as community security projects that strengthen the capacity of local police services and the Lebanese Armed Forces to prevent and respond to conflict and violent acts of extremism.
I wish that the October 7 attack on Israel had not happened, that those innocent civilians had not been killed and that those innocent hostages had not been taken.
Netanyahu and his regime's focus has never been on making an effort to release hostages; it has been on destruction and the killing of over 40,000 innocent women and children. Now there is the expansion of the war to Lebanon, where over 1,000 people have been killed; we do not know how many more will be killed. Netanyahu and his regime have no respect for international and humanitarian laws. Despite the fact that allies have demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, he has ignored every call.
Can members imagine being a Lebanese person currently living in Lebanon, which is suffering the worst economic collapse since the 19th century? The Lebanese lira suffered a 90% devaluation. There was the experience, in 2020, of the Beirut explosion disaster. The vast majority of Lebanese people and members of the Lebanese government remained neutral in the conflict that developed in the Middle East. We learned Lebanese history in school in 1967. Unlike some of our region's neighbouring countries, Lebanon maintained neutrality and did not get involved in the so-called Six-Day War.
In 2006, Lebanon experienced hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, in a conflict very similar to what has been happening over the past week. At the outset of the conflict, more than 1,000 Lebanese people had been killed, with more than 3,600 injured. Around a quarter of all Lebanon's inhabitants, close to one million people, have been displaced. The Israeli bombings have turned thousands of homes to rubble.
The resolution called for an end to hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah; the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, to be replaced by Lebanese and United Nations interim forces in Lebanon; and the disarmament of armed groups, with no armed forces other than UN forces and Lebanese military, south of the Litani River. It was unanimously approved by the United Nations Security Council on August 11, 2006. The next day, the Lebanese cabinet unanimously approved the resolution; the Israeli cabinet voted 24 to zero in favour of it.
The situation in Lebanon is devastating, and there is a fear of expanding conflict in the region. We demand an immediate ceasefire to save innocent lives in Lebanon, Gaza and Israel.
Marty Morantz Conservative Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB
Mr. Speaker, with the elimination of Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon last week, in the member's view, is that justice for the Lebanese people?
Shafqat Ali Liberal Brampton Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, in my view, when innocent lives are lost, we should not play politics. We should call for an immediate ceasefire to save innocent lives.
It has been a year since 1,200 Jewish Israeli people were killed by terrorists, and we all condemned that. Over 40,000 innocent people in Gaza have been killed, and now it is Lebanon. We should call for an immediate ceasefire so that innocent people do not lose their lives.
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, my colleague began by talking about the importance of working with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or IRCC, to renew the travel documents of Lebanese nationals who would like to come here. However, it seems to me that it is a bit late in the process, especially when we know how slow IRCC is in general.
Knowing that this conflict could unfortunately continue to spread to other countries, should IRCC not already be sending messages to countries where there is a risk of a flare-up? Should we send messages to Canadian nationals to suggest they renew their documents? Should we prioritize applications for documents from places where the situation is expected to continue to escalate?
Shafqat Ali Liberal Brampton Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, that is a very important question.
Since the conflict started in Gaza, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has been reminding people, issuing warnings numerous times, that Canadians and permanent residents should not travel to the conflict zones and that Lebanese Canadians living in the region should come to Canada as the conflict might expand. The IRCC and the Minister of Immigration are working hard to bring Canadians and permanent residents in Lebanon and in conflict zones safely to Canada.
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Mr. Speaker, following up on the question of my friend from Winnipeg, one thing I have noticed in the debate tonight is that there is a certain lack of specificity in responses or explanations from some members. I understand the desire of people to express a hope for peace and a desire for greater collaboration and goodwill, but the way we operationalize that is through specific suggestions. Members talk about Israel having a right to defend itself and about wanting peace and to hold terrorist groups accountable, but members are not willing to specify exactly the mechanics of that.
What does it mean for Israel to have a right to defend itself, for example, in practice.
Shafqat Ali Liberal Brampton Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, Israel has a right to exist and defend itself. At the same time, Israel has to live with its neighbours in peace and let them live with dignity. Israel has no right to violate international law and humanitarian law.
Melissa Lantsman Conservative Thornhill, ON
Mr. Speaker, news broke today of another terrorist attack in Tel Aviv. More than 200 missiles were launched into Israel from Iran, with sirens sounding in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and in every major city across the country, as nearly an entire population sheltered in place. There is no better time than tonight to talk about the brutality of the Iranian regime, the most destabilizing force of evil in a region and a puppet master for the proxy armies that have wreaked havoc on millions of innocent people in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Iran and, of course, in Israel.
The attack appears far bigger than the last one in April, and it should be the clearest of indications that western values, peace and security, and the stability of the entire region are all at risk because of the fundamentalists who have for a generation taken Iran back into the Stone Age. Over the last number of weeks, they were deeply wounded, they were humiliated and they were finally weakened.
It should have been very simple to state unequivocally that Israel, especially on a day when millions were forced into shelters and innocent civilians were killed in a terrorist attack, had the right, the duty and the responsibility to defend itself. It should be easy to unequivocally state that this country should fight to eradicate terror. Instead, we have a foreign minister who is not just naive about terror but outside of her depth on almost every conversation since and before October 7. Quite frankly, it is humiliating for her and humiliating for the entire country.
Instead of giving a comment on fighting terror, her words were the following:
These attacks from Iran will only serve to further escalate in the region. That is why I have been in contact with my Israeli counterpart this morning. I have been in contact with many G7 foreign ministers, as well as Arab countries' foreign ministers.
This is a very dangerous time for the Middle East, and we need to make sure that this war stops.
She went on to tell reporters outside of this place:
We need to make sure that there is no escalation. Of course, Israel needs to be able to protect itself and that's why we'll continue to support its security and we'll support, of course, through the iron dome.
She continued:
At the same time, we need to make sure that parties sit down and the war stops, because we can see that what will happen (is)—there will be even further escalation, more innocent civilians including women and children dying. And that's what I said at the UN yesterday. We need this war to stop.
If we are to understand this, the minister's position now is that Israel can intercept hundreds of incoming ballistic missiles from Iran, but that is exactly where the defence stops. Israel just needs to accept that these attacks happen and that its technological superiority can continue to provide 100% coverage. She is unconcerned with the terror of Hamas and Hezbollah and the mullahs in Iran and only capable of repeating these talking points, which have received high praise from some in her caucus. They have received confusion from others, embarrassment from some. The minister was also thanked by Hamas, a terrorist organization that the country was once unequivocal about wanting to defeat.
She went on to talk about a ceasefire on the day of a major escalation from Tehran. As for her calls for the supposed 21-day ceasefire that the G7 and some Arab countries were touting last week, it is worthwhile to remember, because nobody has said it in the House, that this ceasefire negotiation did not include any of the belligerent actors involved, the ones responsible for the ongoing terror attacks. They themselves were not in the ceasefire talks. It was a ceasefire proposal that did not involve anyone who was actually fighting.
This is the minister who at the UN managed to offend even our most ardent allies of Canada with her inconsistent hum of moral equivalency, her incomprehensible message and the very fact that Canada, at the highest levels, speaks from both sides of its mouth. It is the same minister who, alongside the Minister for Mental Health, the member for York Centre, was proudly photographed caressing the hand of a prolific terrorist and Holocaust denier in the 19th year of his four-year mandate, who set up a martyrs' fund to reward those who killed Jews.
The member for York Centre demanded an apology from members of this House, and she will never get an apology from any member on this side given her dangerous, sanctimonious hypocrisy after she posed for pictures with terrorists instead of denouncing terror. I think her constituents deserve the apology, and I am almost certain that no apology will ever convince anyone from her riding to make her a member of Parliament again.
The Prime Minister came to Jewish communities after October 7. We are almost a year from that date. He and members of the Liberal Party stood tall and promised full support. He gave them his word. What have we seen since? We have seen protests targeting innocent people in Jewish neighbourhoods, Jewish businesses and Jewish places of worship.
They are not protesting Israel. They are not protesting the Government of Israel. They are not even protesting MP offices. They are intimidating Jews, complete with anti-Semitic slogans, flags, chants and banners, in neighbourhoods, in front of synagogues and in front of a seniors home right here in the nation's capital just last week. There was silence from MPs.
We have seen new lows in cancel culture, as Israeli authors and artists are deplatformed, as universities call for ideological purity to promote Hamas talking points, as IDF veterans are shamed and as the leader of one of Ontario's largest unions gets to keep his job while celebrating “resistance” in the Middle East. We all know what that means. His watermelon army of radicals enjoys impunity of the worst anti-Semitism that I have seen in my lifetime in any labour movement.
We have seen unprecedented acts of physical violence too. We have seen them at synagogues and schools in Toronto, synagogues and schools in Montreal, and cities from coast to coast, from Vancouver to Fredericton. This has gone beyond graffiti, which we have all unfortunately gotten used to. It has turned into firebombs. It has turned into bricks through buildings. It has turned into gunshots from guns.
Where has the Prime Minister gone? As the headlines pile up one after another and stories get more and more outrageous, there is nothing except silence and maybe, if we are lucky, the weakest of platitudes, with him trying to say something and nothing at all, all while anti-Semitic hate crimes doubled in less than a year. It is 2024 and they are up by 250%, and the Jewish community has suffered 70% of all religious-based hate crimes despite making up less than 2% of the population.
The Prime Minister is nowhere to be found. His foreign minister cannot muster a coherent thought. His ministers are terrified of giving even the most basic condemnation. That is on him. He and his government lack the courage to speak out unequivocally and denounce what is happening right now.
There is a lack of courage to take new measures to protect our country by truly banning the IRGC agents who are still here through Samidoun and by properly vetting those who have been caught right before they committed a terrorist attack, either right here in our country's biggest city or south of the border in New York. The government awarded citizenship to someone it arrested on terror charges.
The government lacks the courage to do the bare minimum, such as enforcing the laws in our Criminal Code, all while it denies security funding to the most vulnerable synagogues and community centres, with excuses of red tape or, frankly, incompetence. We have known for a long time that the Prime Minister and his MPs lack any conviction at all, but never has this lack of conviction been more costly and put more people at risk than right now.
The Prime Minister is playing politics because he is out of gas on everything else. He is playing politics with the gravest threat in the Middle East's security in a generation. He is playing politics with the biggest challenge to Canadian religious freedoms since the Holocaust. Let me tell members how he does it. He sends one group of MPs to say one thing to one community and sends another group of MPs to say something else to another community.
He gets members, like the ones for Mount Royal and Eglinton—Lawrence, to put out strongly worded tweets to say all the right things to try to cover up the failures at the top, while being shoved in a back corner of Parliament. Meanwhile, members like the one for Scarborough Centre call for an unequivocal embargo and actively parrot anti-Israel talking points. Two different MPs give two different messages to two different communities.
The Prime Minister sends ministers to denounce UNRWA and announce that the Liberals stopped Canadian funding, but then they quietly resume funding just months later with millions of tax dollars. They cannot even take a stand to condemn the immunity for UNRWA employees who participated in literal terrorism. Let us not forget their impeccable timing to reaffirm their unwavering support for UNRWA, just as UNRWA publicly admitted that Fateh Al Sharif, the Hamas leader in Lebanon, was also running an UNRWA school and heading its school union. He was just buried in Hamas regalia, in case anyone missed it.
At what point does the Liberal government move UNRWA from the willful ignorance column to the willing co-conspirator column and stop sending Canadian tax dollars that are funding terror? The Liberals are doing so because they lack the courage. Like I said, they lack the conviction to do what is right instead of doing what is popular.
They lack the fortitude to stand with our allies through fire and water instead of just freeloading as usual. They lack the moral clarity to stand with the Jewish community, not just when it is easy but also when it is difficult. There is a steep price to pay for this and for our reputation abroad as it continues to crumble in the face of another equivocation, another reversal and another backtrack.
We were once the country that took Juno Beach, that served in Korea and that brought peace to countless nations. We are the country now that cannot even honour its basic commitments and that sends a foreign minister who has a basic understanding of the threats in the region to any podium where the people in the audience are not questioning her own capacity and the words coming out of her own mouth.
It is a steep price to pay for those living in the Middle East as they continue to live under the thumb of oppressive regimes like Hamas and Hezbollah, as they continue to wait for their loved ones to come home and as they continue to yearn for peace and freedom. However, it is also a steep price to pay for the people living here in Canada.
It has not been this hard to be a Jewish Canadian for a very long time. How could it not be when one cannot hang a mezuzah on the door of their home or the door of their university dorm? Frankly, in almost every Jewish neighbourhood, that is happening. How could it not be hard when one cannot wear a kippah without being followed, verbally harassed or even spit on in this country? How could it not be when one goes to synagogue and finds out, again, that it has been vandalized? How could it not be when one sends their kids to a Jewish school and cannot trust that they are going to come home at the end of the day?
These are not just attacks against the Jewish community; they are attacks against everyone. When the inherent rights of religious freedom, speech, assembly or just plain dignity are denied to one group, it is very easy for people to deny them to another group. When we turn a blind eye to injustice happening here at home, it persists and it gets worse.
My parents came to this country for freedom, and I am so glad they did. Millions of others came to this country for freedom. However, if they saw the anti-Semitism here today, I wonder whether they would make that same decision, because it has been taking place in this country for far too long. It is not hyperbole; it is a real thing that is happening, and the other side better wake up.
I get emails from constituents telling me, “I want to stay in Canada, but I don't know if I can anymore.” They tell me that freedom, the very essence of our country, is in great peril. They are actually scared, in 2024, as Jews in this country. When we lose freedom, we lose something much bigger than ourselves. It is not too late to get it back, but it is going to take far more effort than the window dressing and the posturing that the government has put forward so far.
Since the members of the NDP have become unrecognizable in their pursuit of division in this country and their lack of respect for western democratic values, and since they are unable to muster even the courage to stand on the side of allies' broader requests to discuss the carnage in Lebanon, with barely a mention of Hezbollah, let us go through a timeline so they can join us in the real world.
October 7, 2023, was Hamas' attack on Israel, the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Hezbollah immediately escalated the aggression, launching more than 9,000 missiles, rockets and drones on northern Israel, which has been evacuated for the better part of a year. After doing the bidding of the terrorists, on July 27 an attack on Druze children by Hezbollah occurred in the northern Golan Heights. A rocket fired by Hezbollah struck a soccer field where children were playing; it killed twelve teenagers and injured dozens more.
In response to these attacks, Israel has now launched the largest military campaign against Hezbollah since 2006. The operation targets Hezbollah's military infrastructure, aiming to significantly degrade the group's capabilities. We used to be on the side of fighting terrorism, and in this part of the House, we still are.
That brings us to the elimination of one of the most prolific terrorists that ever was, ending a 30-year reign of terror when he dragged his country into one war after another. He was indiscriminate in his terror against Israelis, Americans and thousands of Lebanese and Syrians during his bloody rule, and he enjoyed very little support from his Arab neighbours, the Arab League, the U.S., the EU and Canada, which designated him and his group as terrorists.
To watch the flags fly in the streets without a peep from any member of the House is, frankly, unforgivable. To watch members of the House stand in rallies alongside Hezbollah flags is unforgivable. No one wants to see the loss of life anywhere; it is why we are here talking about this. However, it must be said in this debate that the rulers of Hamas and of Hezbollah, and the tyrants in Tehran, are the cornerstone of suffering, and they must come to an end.
The people of Lebanon, the people suffering in Gaza, the hostages still in the grips of the barbaric terror, and the brave Iranian people who have taken to the streets to weaken the regime should be the people we seek to fight for. This regime is responsible for stoning women in soccer fields and for throwing gay people off roofs. To watch members of Parliament line up at rallies where its flag is being flown is, frankly, unforgivable.
We should not be focused on appeasing the tyrants, not here and not anywhere. We should not be worried about placating the violent, spiteful mob of dictators, murderers and the forces of hatred in power in the Middle East. However, it is what this country has come to; that is what we are doing right now. It is a shame, and it will change the day we elect the member for Carleton as the next prime minister of this country.
Rob Oliphant LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, the member for Thornhill can have her own version of the truth, but she cannot change the truth. Earlier tonight, she tweeted something that took a clip out of what the Minister of Foreign Affairs had said at a press conference and cut it off at only a few seconds. It was a shameful act of misinformation and disinformation.
The minister did call for de-escalation in the situation, as Canadians have all called for, but she also said immediately thereafter that we support Israel's right to protect itself against the attacks. Why did the member cut that part to try to foster division in this country, when we are supposed to heal this country?
Melissa Lantsman Conservative Thornhill, ON
Mr. Speaker, there is not one person on that side of the House who can explain to me what they mean by Israel's self-defence. What does it mean when they say that Israel can defend itself? This is the same party that has cut off military aid to Israel and military aid to the Iron Dome.
Melissa Lantsman Conservative Thornhill, ON
Mr. Speaker, come on, he had his turn.
Does Israel get to defend itself in using the Iron Dome, and it stops there? The foreign minister cannot answer that question. No one on the other side can answer that question, and as soon as they do, I am sure Canadians can know the truth.
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
Again I would like to remind all members not to take the floor until they are recognized to do so. This is a way we can make sure we have maximum participation by members and also have pointed, passionate, but in the end parliamentary, debates.
The hon. member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot.
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague's speech. I think we all agree. I do not think anyone wants to stand with dictators. We prefer to stand with the people and celebrate when dictatorships are overthrown.
That said, I am trying to understand what will change when the member for Carleton becomes prime minister and the government is Conservative, as my colleague said. I am trying to understand exactly what that will means. Besides saying that we stand in solidarity either with the people or with dictators, I am looking for something concrete.
There was a not-too-pleasant time when the U.S. government was made up of what were called neo-conservatives under George W. Bush, and it said that democracy had to be imposed on other countries by force. That had catastrophic results in Iraq.
Now, what concrete proposal do the Conservatives have to provide some substance in their agenda?
Melissa Lantsman Conservative Thornhill, ON
Mr. Speaker, the people of the region, the people of Lebanon, the people of Syria and those who have taken to the streets in Iran not only for the last two years since the death of Mahsa Amini but for the last 45 years as the fundamentalists have ruined that country and taken them back to the Stone Age, are the ones who want change. To listen to members of the government apologize for the tyrants, the terrorists and the murderers is, frankly, beyond this country. It is shocking.
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Mr. Speaker, the member's speech referenced that there is an awful lot of anti-Semitism across this country. That is undoubtedly true and something that every member of the House is appalled by. We should be doing everything we can to limit all anti-Semitism, anti-Palestinian racism, Islamophobia and all the sorts of discrimination we are seeing increase exponentially right now.
However, I have to say that I was in the House when a member of a Conservative Party used Hezbollah slurs and talked of pagers when addressing an Israeli Canadian member of Parliament. If that is not anti-Semitism and appalling behaviour from the Conservative Party, I wonder whether the member would find that appropriate if it had been directed at another member of the House of Commons.