Madam Chair, we have come together this evening to talk about the war currently in progress in the Middle East. My late father was a Second World War veteran. He was decorated with the Legion of Honour and wounded twice on the battlefield. He always told me that nothing was uglier in life than war. As a small child, I asked my mother, if war is so ugly, why did Dad go? My mother told me that my father fought during the war so that I would not have to.
My reason for bringing this up is that, as we speak, millions of people from this great nation are experiencing the insecurity of war. When I say “great nation”, I want to call attention to the words of my colleague from Calgary Heritage, who mentioned just a few minutes ago that Iranians do indeed represent a great, millennia-old nation that has played a major role in our lives today and whose achievements benefit us to this day.
We support the Iranian people, who have been struggling for 47 years with the dangers of living under the regime of the ayatollahs in Tehran. I can never talk about this people without remembering that, for 47 years, they have suffered under the yoke and terrifying violence of the Ayatollah regime. That has been going on since 1979. Keep in mind that we Canadians, in late 1979, 1980, helped Americans escape Tehran when the Ayatollah regime let terrorists enter the U.S. embassy. This was one of the most illustrious pages in Canada's diplomatic history. For 47 years, a repressive, tyrannical, theocratic dictatorship has held sway in this country. That dictatorship is the main source of terror in Iran, in the Middle East and across the world, even here in Canada. I will come back to that a little later.
My colleagues also mentioned that the country really does present a nuclear threat. They mentioned that, unfortunately, these people could indeed be prepared to build nuclear weapons, that they have massacred their own people for not sharing the views of the Ayatollah regime, that they shot down a civilian aircraft carrying 55 Canadian citizens and some 30 permanent residents, Canadians who were targeted by the Iranian regime. They orchestrated the attacks of October 7, 2023, and, yes, they are a daily threat here in Canada. Our intelligence service informs us that there are hundreds, even up to 700 people, in our country currently acting under the orders of the Iranian regime. We can talk about this with the great Irwin Cotler, who fortunately was not targeted, but who was targeted by the Iranian regime.
As strange as it may sound, the one good thing in times of war is that political partisanship is set aside, although maybe not entirely. Just because partisanship lessens does not mean we should turn a blind eye to the actions of our government, and I mean our government as Canadians. Canadians have noticed that, since this event, the Prime Minister has had a varied attitude, to say the least and to put it politely.
Initially, the Prime Minister expressed full support for the action taken by Israel and the United States. The next day, he said that he reluctantly supported it, but that he was not giving carte blanche. First flip-flop, second flip-flop, third flip-flop. He then called for de-escalation. Finally, he raised the possibility of military involvement. That is four flip-flops in a short period of time for such a serious situation. With all due respect to the Prime Minister, with all due respect to the office he holds, there can be no denying that he was unclear. In times of war, it is essential to be clear. I urge the Prime Minister to pull himself together.
We support the initiatives of both Israel and the United States, because we believe that the Ayatollah regime must indeed come to an end. The crimes, murders and atrocities it has been perpetrating for 47 years are completely unworthy of a civilized society, especially one as rich and as inspiring as the Iranian nation. That is why we support the military initiative while, of course, hoping for an end to hostilities.
