House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2025, with 60% of the vote.
Military Contribution Against ISIL March 26th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I would like to know if the member would elaborate quickly on this. If ISIS is able to establish its caliphate in eastern Syria and Iraq, not only what type of situation that would bring to peace and security in the region but also how it might affect us here in Canada?
Military Contribution Against ISIL March 26th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo for her support for the motion.
Could she quickly touch on how much humanitarian aid in the region and how important it is for the people who have been displaced by this terrorist organization?
Military Contribution Against ISIL March 26th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, nobody is more creative with numbers or the truth than the member for Vancouver Quadra.
She has gone after the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration about the issue of the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report today on military spending. In the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report, on page 10, it says that, by far the most devastating cuts to the military happened from 1995 to 2004. Who was in government at that time? It was the Liberals who were in power during that time. They gutted our military. It corresponded completely with the decade of darkness.
In eight out of ten years, spending by the Liberals on the GDP percentage was 1% or less. For the other two years, it was 1.1% GDP. We cannot fight the numbers or the truth in that matter.
Unlike the Liberals, who sent our troops to Afghanistan without the proper equipment and with very little notice, and who committed us to a battle that lasted for 12 years, I can tell members that our troops are going in well equipped, well trained and with all the backing that they need to get the job done as quickly as possible.
Military Contribution Against ISIL March 26th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, as you know, Canada and our allies have been working very hard to ensure that terrorist organizations like ISIL do not have the ability to raise revenues nor make it possible for people to donate money to them through financial instruments that are available to them. We are always searching out through intelligence agencies to figure out how money and transactions are being made.
On the issue of oil, we realize that there are ships that leave ports with oil from ISIL that come back empty and nobody ever knows where they dock. There has to be more surveillance on that standpoint. We have to prevent terrorists from actually having the ability to pump oil and make money off other natural resources. They control the lawless lands of eastern Syria.
If we are going to be effective, we have to stop the caliphate. We have to stop it from being able to establish an area from which it can generate revenue, train fighters and stage its war and terrorism around the world.
Military Contribution Against ISIL March 26th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, this is one of those times when as parliamentarians we take on one of the greatest debates. Something that happens only under the Conservative government is that we debate deploying our troops and putting them in harm's way. It is a practice we began with the Afghanistan mission. We did it with Libya, and this is the second time we are doing it with Operation Impact.
I know that our troops are always prepared to go into harm's way. This is a mission they volunteer for. This is a life career they choose. I know that their training, skill, and bravery will serve them well as they carry out the mission in Iraq and Syria.
With that, I would like to pay tribute to Sergeant Andrew Doiron for his sacrifice for his country. He unfortunately was killed in a friendly fire accident that occurred in the Kurdish region, where he was working alongside our Kurdish peshmerga partners training them, advising them, assisting them, and essentially making sure that they can execute their battle plans, win back territory, and liberate villages that have been taken by ISIL.
At the same time, we have to remember some of the first casualties ISIL was able to inspire. They included Corporal Nathan Cirillo, who died at the National War Memorial when the attack on Parliament Hill occurred on October 22, days before we ever deployed any air force, and Warrant officer Patrice Vincent, who was targeted October 20, in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, when he was getting a cup of coffee at Tim Hortons, of all things.
ISIL is an incredible threat. It has been said that they are using 21st century social media and 20th century weaponry to carry out 13th century barbarism. This is a threat we have been witnessing on television as they have promoted their genocide. This jihadist terrorist organization has documented the crucifixion of Christians and how the death cult trapped so many Yazidis on the mountain.
They sell women and girls into sexual slavery. We have seen them behead all other ethnic minorities, including Shias and what they call apostate Sunnis. They have not stopped with the adults; we have watched them murder children.
This ethnic cleansing was horrific and gut-wrenching for anyone who saw it. Of course, it was played in the media.
They did not stop there with their ethnic cleansing, with their genocide, with their jihadist, warped ideology and screwed up ideas on religion. They captured aid workers and journalists. They sold some off for ransom. Ultimately they beheaded most of them on national television and bragged about it. Then we witnessed the barbaric and sadistic burning of the Jordanian pilot.
This really did establish what was happening in Iraq and Syria and the threat they represent to the region. We also saw them inspire westerners, including Canadians, to sign up and travel to Syria and Iraq and become jihadist warriors. We saw them inspire people around the world, including here in Canada, to become terrorists in their own countries. We saw what happened in Copenhagen, France, and Australia.
This organization, this jihadist genocidal death cult called ISIL, the Islamic State, has to be stopped. It is in Canada's national interest to go to Iraq, as we have for the last six months, and expand this mission to include Syria to ensure that ISIL does not establish its caliphate, headquartered in the so-called capital of Iraq.
If they do that, they will continue to bring their terror to Canada, to our allies, and continue to have their genocide grow in the region.
It has never been the Canadian way to sit on the sidelines. It has never been the Canadian way to take a pass when we have these types of brutal regimes gaining ground, and because of our intervention, along with our allies, 25% of the territory in Iraq now has been won back.
The aid and assist role that Canada and our coalition partners have played with our special operations forces in training Iraqi and Kurdish militias and security forces has been so far successful. Our air strikes have supported them and have degraded the capability of ISIL within Iraq, but they are coalescing and consolidating their fighting team in eastern Syria. It is a lawless land in the east, and ISIL has control.
The terminology and, really when it comes down to it, the reason we need to go to Syria to uproot ISIL and degrade them so they are not a threat to us here in Canada is no different than when the Liberals first deployed Canadian Armed Forces, without debate in this House of Commons, to Afghanistan because of the safe haven that the Taliban was offering to Al Qaeda for allowing them the ability to go out and attack our allies, which included killing Canadians in the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington.
Of course, Al Qaeda had been perpetrating these types of attacks around the world against predominantly U.S. interests and U.S. facilities, but those targets were ultimately nailed by the terrorist activities. However, that principle, that objective, which the Liberal government of 2002 saw as being necessary and committed us to a war that lasted 12 years, was done without any debate, without any transparency. That national interest is no different today than it was back then.
Through this whole process, we have been extremely accountable. Today I have been hearing the opposition criticize us for not being accountable. We are the first government to bring forward resolutions for full debate and full disclosure on these missions before we deploy or extend. We are the first government to have held ongoing technical briefings with the media and with parliamentarians on what is happening on an ongoing basis. Over 15 technical briefings have been held in the last six months on our activities, plus the ministers of National Defence and Foreign Affairs have been appearing before committees of both foreign affairs and national defence, ensuring that parliamentarians were informed.
We talk about the Liberals and how they have abandoned their values. I listened to the Minister of Veterans Affairs very closely, how he clearly documented the Liberals' proud history of ensuring that Canada always does the heavy lifting when we needed to be in military interventions, which they have totally abandoned today. The Liberals do not replicate or resemble themselves in any way, shape or form from a decade ago.
I do not understand why New Democrats would not want to participate. Social democratic parties in Europe, like that of the leader of France, are involved in Operation Impact with our allies. The Danes and the Dutch are all involved, and New Democrats are prepared to sit back and watch this genocide taking place. They are prepared to sacrifice more lives, and that is not acceptable.
We will go forward into Syria under the UN charter, article 51, which clearly states that for self-defence or collective self-defence, we have a right to go into another nation where attacks are being launched. The Government of Iraq has made the request. The United States has already reported to the UN that they will participate, as they already have for several months, and we will do the same to ensure that we degrade the capability of ISIL to carry out their terrorist attacks and brutality in the region, and of course prevent them from being able to do it here in Canada or any other allied nation.
We will continue with our humanitarian aid because it is important. Canada has been very generous. The taxpayers of Canada, via the government, have already been charitable and donated over $700 million to help feed 1.7 million refugees in the region. They have helped clothe and shelter 1.25 million and allowed half a million kids to get to school.
In closing I will say that we will continue to do that in the long term, as the Prime Minister has said, to ensure that once we achieve peace and stability in the region, we will help rebuild it as Canada has always done because we are a generous nation.
Military Contribution Against ISIL March 26th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, my friend across the way and I serve on the national defence committee together. She comes from a military family and always provides interesting commentary and input to our debates.
I have to point out that in no way is the Government of Canada working to support the Assad regime in Syria. We recognize that this is a brutal regime that has used chemical weapons on its own people, killed thousands of people, and displaced millions. We are hoping that the U.S.-led coalition will find a diplomatic and political solution to the civil war in Syria.
Is the member saying that we should turn a blind eye to the ISIL terrorists who are trying to establish a caliphate in eastern Syria and Iraq? Is she saying that we should allow them to entrench themselves and to generate revenues to ensure they have the artillery and heavy equipment to fight in the region and to launch terrorist attacks around the world, including here in Canada, whom they have sworn is an enemy? Is she saying that we turn our back on all of the innocent victims who have been brutalized by the genocide carried out by the ISIL jihadists?
Questions on the Order Paper March 23rd, 2015
Mr. Speaker, in accordance with the Privacy Act, DND is not authorized to disclose the personal information of Mr. Fowler unless we obtain his consent or there is legal authority to release such information.
Questions on the Order Paper March 23rd, 2015
Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), the date was October 1, 2014.
With regard to (b), the department implemented parking fees in order to be compliant with Defence administrative order directives, DAODs, 1004-0 and 1004-1, and Treasury Board custodial parking policy.
With regard to (c), parking fees are not uncommon across Government of Canada properties and assets, including properties of Public Works and Government Services Canada, Canadian Heritage, Public Safety Canada and Environment Canada, all in accordance with Treasury Board guidelines. CFB Halifax is the first base to fully implement these directives.
With regard to (d), the question is non-applicable.
With regard to (e), most bases in Canada are located in remote locations where fair market value, FMV, for parking has been or will undoubtedly be assessed at $0.00. For DND establishments located in commercially developed centres, it should be expected that appropriate charges for parking will be established in the near future.
With regard to (f), as the current parking fee structures comply with the DAODs and Treasury Board policy, no other options were considered.
With regard to (g), the fees for parking spaces at CFB Halifax were determined through a fair market value study conducted by an independent contractor hired through Public Works and Government Services Canada.
With regard to (h), the total incremental costs associated with installing payment infrastructure at CFB Halifax amount to approximately $460,000.
Questions on the Order Paper March 13th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces, DND/CAF, do not create records of visits by members of Parliament to CAF bases and stations, nor have a centralized tracking and reporting mechanism for such visits, the reasons for visits or their costs. As such, DND/CAF is unable to provide the requested details.
National Defence March 13th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, what happened in this case is completely unacceptable. The inclusion of these remarks in the board of inquiry report is further evidence of how unacceptable it was.
Our thoughts remain with the family of Corporal Stuart Langridge during this very difficult time. The Department of National Defence is reviewing the Military Police Complaints Commission report. We want to ensure we act upon those recommendations so this never happens again.