Ahmed Hussen

[Situation in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, October 16th, 2023]

Mr. Chair, I absolutely agree with my colleague. We should be united around the principle that every human life is precious. We have to condemn terrorism in all its forms. We have to make sure that we are always calling for the respect of international humanitarian law, and we have to stand up for the rights of civilians to be protected in conflict. That is what we stand for and that is something we can all agree on here in this chamber, across party lines.

[Situation in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, October 16th, 2023]

Mr. Chair, our focus has of course been on making sure we work with our friends and allies to help everyone affected by this conflict. I share the concerns of my colleague with respect to Hamas and its actions. We were all horrified by the terrorist attacks that Hamas launched against Israeli civilians in the south of Israel. I share the concerns of my colleague with respect to anyone, any entity or any country that would aid a terrorist organization.

[Situation in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, October 16th, 2023]

Mr. Chair, I am thankful for this opportunity to address my colleagues.

I join the minister, the hon. member for York Centre, in condemning Hamas. The pictures of the attacks by Hamas on innocent Israeli civilians are horrific. I unequivocally join my colleagues in condemning Hamas and its blatant act of terror. Our priority is the civilians.

Every human life is precious, whether it is Muslim, Jewish, Palestinian, Israeli or Christian. Hamas does not and will never represent Muslims and Palestinians and does not represent the Palestinian people and their legitimate aspirations. We must do everything we can to continue to protect both Israeli and Palestinian civilians. We will continue to work with our allies in the region and beyond to make sure that all civilians get the assistance and aid they need.

The reality is that this humanitarian crisis is getting worse. We need unimpeded humanitarian access and an open corridor to make sure that life-saving food, medicine and water get to those who desperately need it now. We are working very closely with our international partners, trusted organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Societies, and groups in the region that have always served everyone. I have had a number of conversations with ICRC; MDA, the equivalent of ICRC in Israel; and the Palestine Red Crescent Society, to get a sense of the needs on the ground and the heroic work being done by humanitarian and medical workers.

With regard to our support so far, we have wasted no time in taking action. We were the first western country to commit an initial $10 million to put much-needed aid and assistance in the hands of trusted organizations so they can deliver water, food and medicine to civilians in need. We will continue to work with our allies to call for the respect of international humanitarian law, which means allowing unimpeded access to medicine, food and other aid.

I want to emphasize that in our domestic approach, we know that Muslim Canadians, Jewish Canadians, Palestinian communities and Arab communities are impacted by this. There are folks with family members who have been killed as a result of this conflict. Family members are experiencing grief because their loved ones are being held hostage by Hamas. Family members are really concerned about being caught in the conflict in Gaza and making sure they are safe.

We must not let the actions of Hamas turn into hate in Canada. I unequivocally condemn the rising acts of anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim behaviour that we have seen in Canada in the last week. We must come together to call out hate in all its forms.

I am so proud of the fact that our special envoys are working together. I spoke to both of them on the weekend. It is so heartening for me as a Canadian to see that our special representative on combatting Islamophobia and the newly appointed envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combatting anti-Semitism are not only working together but embracing each other to lead us forward and make sure that we are holding on to the diversity and inclusion that make Canada so strong.

Canada only succeeds when Canadians can put aside their differences and work together for the betterment of all, not just in the good times but also in the difficult times. We are steadfast in coming together to assist the most vulnerable. I want to reiterate our government's active engagement on this issue. We will be there to support civilians.

We will continue to monitor the situation. We will work with our partners, regional friends and allies and make sure we continue to work with trusted organizations that have served us well over the years to make sure that Canadians have the framework to help the most needy and vulnerable. Canada will continue to do that.

[Foreign Affairs, October 16th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, we are continuing with our long-standing position that in conflict areas humanitarian access must provided to civilians to ensure there is access to life-saving food, medicine and water. I spoke yesterday with our trusted international partners as well as organizations on the ground, both international and Canadian. They have pre-positioned supplies.

We are the first country that has moved forward to provide much-needed humanitarian assistance, and we are insisting on that access so we can deliver medical supplies to civilians who need them.

[Foreign Affairs, October 16th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the hon. member that Canada was the first western country to announce humanitarian assistance to civilians in Israel and Gaza. Not only that, by announcing it so early and so quickly, we have actually incentivized other partners to move forward.

We are working with partners in the region and our trusted international organizations to ensure we have access to civilians both in Gaza and Israel. We are working diligently, and as events move forward, we will continue to insist on international humanitarian access to civilians in Gaza.

[International Development, October 3rd, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I would like to take this opportunity, as a member of the Black Canadian community, to really congratulate you for making history as Canada's first Black Canadian Speaker.

I want to thank the member for his advocacy on a really important issue. Pakistan has faced tremendous challenges with some of the most devastating floods of the region. While it rebuilds, it has also stepped up to help Afghan refugees. That is why we announced $14 million to support it, to provide health and essential services for the refugees and the host community. Canada will always be there.

[Foreign Affairs, September 28th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Scarborough—Agincourt for her strong advocacy on this issue.

We have been following, as a government, the deteriorating situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. This is a situation that also impacts Armenian Canadians. Earlier this morning, I announced that Canada is providing $2.5 million to the Red Cross to provide food, emergency health care, protection services and other essential life-saving assistance to more than 60,000 refugees caught in Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

We continue to call on Azerbaijan to respect the ceasefire, ensure humanitarian access and protect civilians.

[Finance, June 19th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, at what point will the Conservative Party actually have a real housing policy that emphasizes the importance of investing in affordable housing? At what point will it stop gatekeeping real help for Canadian renters?

At what point will it stop gatekeeping rapid housing initiative investments? At what point will it include homelessness in its half-baked housing plan?

Let it get serious about housing before it lectures us about anything.

[The Economy, June 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, what we are doing is really delivering for Canadians.

I will just read back to the hon. member what his colleagues believe. The member for Edmonton Riverbend believes that we should download responsibility for housing to provinces and territories, as does the member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon. The member for Calgary Centre believes in not supporting density and actually opposes more density to build more housing supply. The member for Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry believes that we should pull back federal investments in housing. The member for Calgary Signal Hill believes that we do not even need the housing accelerator fund, and so on and so forth.

[Climate Change, June 2nd, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his advocacy on this important issue.

Affordable housing and climate change must go hand in hand. That is why I was pleased to recently announce the launch of the $1.2-billion Canada greener affordable housing program. This initiative will help affordable housing providers serving low- and moderate-income households complete deep energy retrofits for residential rental buildings and reduce operational costs and greenhouse gas emissions at the same time. This will result in an increased quality of life for residents while contributing to climate change initiatives. This is what real action on housing affordability and sustainability looks like.