Ali Ehsassi

[Situation in Lebanon and Israel, October 1st, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I was about to say that we owe it to the Lebanese, Palestinian and Israeli people to join our allies in the international community to secure peace and stability in the region, as well as that I am sharing my time with the hon. member for Don Valley West.

[Situation in Lebanon and Israel, October 1st, 2024]

Madam Speaker, the minister said, “The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation.” Given the missile attacks launched by the Iranian regime today, I think we can agree that the minister's statement was prescient and accurate.

The minister also went on to add, a few days ago, in the same address to the UN, “We are concerned that a war between Israel and Hezbollah would have devastating consequences, while adding to the already severe humanitarian, economic and political crises in Lebanon.” The minister was also prescient on that particular point.

Over the past week, over one million people have been displaced in Lebanon. In addition, we have also witnessed tens of thousands of Israelis having to evacuate their homes in the north of Israel. The suffering on all sides needs to end. All parties must respect UN Security Council resolution 1701. The UN's Blue Line buffer zone has been violated, and it is integral that Israel and Hezbollah agree to an immediate ceasefire that would allow Israeli and Lebanese civilians to return to their homes and live in peace.

Such a humanitarian situation is clearly unsustainable. The longer the conflict rages, the more innocent lives will be scarred by it and the deeper those scars will be. At a time like this, we must all take a moment to reflect on the devastation we have been watching in the region over the past year after the heinous terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel's invasion of Gaza that followed. We should all be horrified to see innocent Israeli and Palestinian civilians pay the ultimate price for the failure of a much-needed ceasefire. We have been watching extremists on all sides dictate the course of the conflict.

Over 100 Israeli hostages have yet to return home from captivity at the hands of the terrorist entity Hamas. In addition, the fighting has displaced practically the entire population of the Gaza Strip. If there is one lesson to be learned from the experience of the past year, it is that innocent Palestinians, women and children, should not have to bear the price of defeating Hamas. By the same token, Lebanese civilians should not bear the consequences of Hezbollah's terrorist actions. Rather, the Lebanese should have the right to live in peace and security throughout Lebanon.

Therefore our government must remain steadfast in affirming our wholehearted commitment to an immediate ceasefire and to ensuring that we are taking concrete diplomatic steps to achieve the same. This includes leveraging our influence in the region to pressure all sides to de-escalate. We should all remain committed to humanitarian relief and medical aid for all displaced civilians in the region. Canada should never aid and abet violence. We owe it to the Lebanese—

[Situation in Lebanon and Israel, October 1st, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank all colleagues who have participated in this evening's emergency debate on the situation in Lebanon. Time and again we have witnessed crises engulfing the Middle East escalate and consume countless innocent civilians. Many Canadians, some with family ties to the region, are paying close attention to the current crisis and are rightly demanding that our government take any action and all diplomatic action to de-escalate the conflict, to collaborate with other members of the international community to secure an immediate ceasefire, and to ensure that all Canadians and their loved ones in the region are assisted to safety.

We are blessed to have a sizable Lebanese community in our country, a long-standing one that has settled in every community across our vast country. Lebanon is also a focus country of Canada's Middle East strategy, and for that reason, Canada has committed over $548 million to Lebanon since 2016 in humanitarian assistance, development assistance and counter-terrorism capacity-building programs.

Several days ago, our Minister of Foreign Affairs stood before the General Assembly of the United Nations to explicitly call for de-escalation and the protection of civilians from the horror of the escalating violence in Lebanon and Israel. To quote Minister Joly, the conflict—

[National Strategy to Reduce Food Waste and Combat Food Insecurity, September 20th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I request a recorded vote.

[National Strategy to Reduce Food Waste and Combat Food Insecurity, September 20th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, allow me to begin by thanking all the MPs who have contributed to the debate on Motion No. 110 regarding the need to adopt a national strategy to reduce food waste and combat food insecurity.

Over 20% of the food produced in Canada is avoidably wasted, resulting in a direct economic impact of tens of billions of dollars on our families and communities. Avoidable waste drives up costs right across our domestic food supply chains. It has therefore been highly informative to hear the perspectives of all colleagues on Motion No. 110.

All these discussions have made one thing clear. Everyone agrees that far too much time, energy and resources are being invested in producing food that ultimately becomes avoidable waste. It is imperative that we recognize the economic, social and environmental costs of food waste. Avoidable food waste causes significant greenhouse gas emissions, while exposing an unacceptable number of Canadians to food insecurity.

All of the parties in this House have acknowledged these multi-faceted concerns in the comprehensive eighth and 10th agriculture committee reports published last year in 2023, and several provincial governments have begun implementing incentives to cut down on food waste.

While I recognize that disagreements may exist among us, it is clear that all members of this House understand that tackling food waste and food insecurity are important challenges that can and should be addressed. None of us should be against devising solutions to address this critical issue on a national scale or remain indifferent to food wasted at every step from the farm to the table.

Should this motion pass, the federal government will have an opportunity to learn from a multitude of stakeholders located across our country to develop a plan grounded in hard-earned experience. We need to hear from family farmers that remain the backbone of our agricultural sector and of countless communities right across our country, and we also need to hear from processors, brilliant researchers, retailers and community food organizations.

Ample evidence exists that developing a national strategy will assist in establishing a national food waste hierarchy, contribute to aligning federal, provincial and municipal regulations, and assist in identifying fiscal incentives to reduce food waste.

Our peer countries have already taken effective steps. After all, in 2015 the United Nations set sustainable development goals that included a commitment to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030. The United States, European Union, Australia, Japan and South Korea have implemented coordinated government-led strategies to successfully quantify and address the challenge of food waste. To cite one example, government initiatives in South Korea have increased their national food waste recycling from 2.6% in 1996 to 95% in 2022.

While food waste reduction efforts in Canada remain a priority, NGOs such as Food Banks Canada have emphasized the potential of redirecting wholesome but wasted food to community food organizations to help our most vulnerable.

Financial incentives can also make a world of difference for local producers and processors. Pathways exist to recycle food waste into economically valuable assets. These pathways involve converting waste into animal feed, compost for fertilization and biofuels.

However, despite the benefits of such initiatives, a lack of access, scale or information has frustrated our ability to seize these opportunities. Researchers and activists have persistently warned us that the scale of Canada's food waste crisis has persisted and indeed worsened due to misleading information, confusing guidelines, outdated regulations, a lack of meaningful financial incentives and an absence of coordination between the federal, provincial and municipal levels of government.

Left to their own devices, individual actors across the continuum of our food supply chains will continue practices that generate food waste, and shift the associated costs onto our businesses, Canadian households and the environment. A variety of private practices regarding best-before dates, food labelling and vendor supply agreements also frequently lead to the destruction of unsold but wholesome food.

Let me close by—

[Mahsa Amini, September 17th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate Jina Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who was tragically killed by the Iranian regime two years ago. Mahsa's tragic death lit a fire of resistance across Iran and galvanized support around the world. Let me assure members that the torch of opposing gender apartheid continues to shine bright within Iran.

As on other occasions in the last two years, large demonstrations in support of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement have taken place across Canada in the last few days. I am proud to state that more than any other country's government, our government has listened to the demands of protesters. Canada has revised a variety of policies to support courageous Iranians in their just cause. However, our work is not done. We need to continue to support the democratic aspirations of the courageous people of Iran.

[Sudan, June 19th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions amongst the parties, and if you seek it, I think you will find unanimous consent to adopt the following motion on the dire situation in Sudan. I move:

That the House:

(a) recognize that the conflict in Sudan has displaced over 10 million civilians, has resulted in an unprecedented level of gender-based violence, and is causing the largest man-made famine in decades, where civilians in Darfur are suffering the most dire consequences, including ethnically targeted mass killing and sexual violence;

(b) publicly support the UN Security Council Resolution 2736 adopted last week that urged civilian protection, demanded the RSF end its siege on El Fasher and called for all members of the international community to halt the transfer of arms to Sudan; and

(c) urge the government to support international justice initiatives to hold the perpetrators and external enablers accountable and ramp up immediate humanitarian relief for Sudanese civilians.

[Haida Nation Recognition Act, June 19th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and if you seek it, I think you will find unanimous consent to adopt the following motion on the humanitarian situation in Sudan: That the House recognize that the conflict in Sudan has displaced over 10 million civilians, has resulted in an unprecedented—

[Petitions, June 13th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, it is a great honour to rise to present a petition on behalf of hundreds of Canadians from coast to coast to coast. These individuals are calling upon the House of Commons to do several things.

First, they ask that we place sanctions consistently on foreign nationals who are responsible for gross violations of human rights against Rwandans, Hazaras, Tibetans and Tigrayans, and place further sanctions on foreign nationals who are responsible for gross violations of human rights against Uyghurs and Tamils. They go on to ask that we conduct a comprehensive review of the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act to assess why it has not been used in over 10 years to prosecute war criminals and criminals against humanity. Finally, they are asking that we make every effort to resettle genocide victims to Canada, including members of the Uyghur, Tigrayan, Hazara, Tibetan, Rwandan and Tamil communities.

[Abbas Hadian, June 6th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I rise with a heavy heart, but with much admiration, to pay tribute to a member of the medical community in Toronto. On May 26, Dr. Abbas Hadian, a remarkable physician and a distinguished leader of the Iranian Canadian community, passed away. For over 40 years, Dr. Hadian provided health care to countless patients by operating a bustling medical practice and by serving at North York General Hospital. He was passionate about medicine, passionate about people and passionate about his family. From the youngest child to the oldest of seniors, Dr. Hadian treated every patient with exemplary care and with good cheer and humour. I do not think it would be an exaggeration to say that he was among the most widely known and admired members of the Iranian community in Toronto.

I would like to thank his family for having generously shared Dr. Hadian with countless patients and wish them well during this particularly difficult time.