Jim Karygiannis

[Supply, September 18th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, last Tuesday's horrific tragedy shook the United States, Canada and the entire world. On that day all of us became victims of acts of horrific cruelty, creating upheaval in public order for all of humanity.

The world we live in today is far different from the one we lived in only seven short days ago. The world changed on September 11, 2001, and it will never be the same again. Words will never be enough to express our sadness and support for those who have lost family members or friends. However, as well as extending our thoughts and prayers we also wish to express our determination to ensure that despite the tragic and murderous consequences of terrorism free societies will never give in to terrorist acts and the values we hold so dear will continue to prevail.

My riding of Scarborough--Agincourt is one of the most ethnically diverse in all of Canada. I represent people whose origins cover the face of the earth. Yesterday I received dozens of e-mails from constituents who wished to offer their thoughts on what happened and what should be done in light of these attacks.

Lister Tennant states:

The Canadian government as a member of NATO should use its influence and get the United States to exercise a cool head. The U.S. or NATO might be bombing a foreign country and killing innocent people while your real enemy is within the borders of the United States and Canada.

Joe Hostyn states:

Canada should support all anti-terrorist measures and actions including military support if required. We should also review all immigration policies and restructure them to make it much more difficult to establish terrorist cells of operation within our country. If it means restricting overall immigration, so be it.

Malcolm and Elizabeth Abdool state:

I hope that Canada would fully support the United States in the fight against international terrorism and trust that the necessary steps would be taken here in Canada to protect all Canadians. Thank you for the opportunity to give our input.

Erma Collins states:

I would not like Canada, despite NATO commitments, to participate in bombing Afghanistan or any other country. The west would then be the terrorists, taking the lives of innocent civilians. Someone ought to propose a new approach: sending relief supplies to poverty-stricken countries that breed terrorists. Violence (physical, economic, political, psychological) breeds violence. Of course, the individual perpetrators should be brought to justice.

The list goes on and on. We must remember that the attack on September 11 is not the work of Muslims or Arabs but of terrorists.

One thing that we must have in Canada is inclusion, acceptance and not just tolerance. I have heard people say that we should tolerate them because they are different. I have heard people say that we should look upon them as having a different colour of skin. One of the things that we must do in Canada is accept individuals as our neighbours. People in my riding of a different creed or colour have been made fun of and even attacked. That is not something to be supported and it should not be happening in Canada.

Could the hon. member share with us some thoughts and ideas on this issue and whether he had any similar actions occurring in his riding?

[Ara Sarafian, March 28th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to call attention to Mr. Ara Sarafian, an established author and historian, specializing in the late Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey.

His multiple contacts in both Europe and the Middle East help the Princeton based journal Armenian Forum bridge the gap between the Armenian scholars on both sides of the Atlantic.

He is here in Ottawa today to promote the launching of his latest book entitled Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915-1916 . It is also known as the blue book which compiles dozens of verified eyewitness accounts from different parts of the Ottoman Empire and sheds light on the Armenian genocide.

Mr. Sarafian is one of the founding directors of the Gomidas Institute and has edited several of the institutes publications.

On behalf of the House of Commons, all Canadians and myself, I wish to congratulate Mr. Ara Sarafian on his success.

[Supply, March 22nd, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I listened very carefully to my colleague across the way. Indeed some of the points she raised have great merit. Canada needs to move forward to the 21st century. We have highways that are in desperate need of repair. I travel the 401 on the way to Windsor. I saw the site where the accident occurred last summer. Construction has been done there and I hope it continues all the way to Toronto.

Could the hon. member enlighten me on how the funding of this infrastructure will be found? Would her party support a Liberal agenda for infrastructure money in the next fiscal year as we did in 1993-94? Would the hon. member be supportive of such an initiative in order for infrastructure money to put into highways and special tasks that could help the national transportation scheme?

[Supply, April 27th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to what my hon. friend across the way had to say. On one side he said that ground troops are unavoidable and we have to send them in. On the other side he said that the United Nations may be an international peacekeeping force. I am a little confused as to whether or not he is supporting ground troops. I am confused as to whether the hon. member is suggesting to the House that we should send in ground troops at this stage of the game when there have been 35 days of bombing with no result. We do not see Milosevic backing away. We have heard the Yugoslav deputy prime minister, who is from the opposition party, saying that we need to do something.

My colleague across the way says that we are in a war. He is a little ignorant about the history of that part of the world. He should study it.

I would ask him to first open his book, learn what has been done in that part of the world and then come to the House and try to tell members what the government should do. Sending ground troops over there will result in body bags coming home. I am just wondering if the hon. member across the way wants to volunteer the first body bag that comes back.

[Supply, April 27th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I would like my hon. friend to make one or two comments regarding not what is happening in Serbia or in Belgrade but what we are doing to our own population.

I bring to his attention the plight of a mother and a father, Zorka and Milan Lavrnja who visited Canadian immigration at Bucharest. Their son was applying to immigrate to Canada. They are Canadian citizens; they hold Canadian passports. They went into the embassy and were told: “You are Serbian Canadians. We do not want to look after you”.

Are we in the House fostering better relations and better communications within our own communities? What happens when a Canadian official overseas, such as the embassy in Bucharest, says that to a Canadian citizen? Could my colleague from Mississauga give his reaction to exactly what we are doing to our Canadian citizens if they are of Serbian background?

[Supply, April 27th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I have listened to my colleague from the New Democratic Party with great interest. He made some interesting comments.

I was just wondering if he could make something clear to me. Is he asking that NATO stops bombing or is he asking that NATO continues bombing? Does the motion that his party brought forward today support stopping the bombing of Yugoslavia?

[Supply, April 27th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to my hon. colleague talk about the Ottoman empire, the ethnic cleansing that is happening today and the ethnic cleansing that has happened over the years.

I am sure he realizes and supports my view that this ethnic cleansing is not something that is just happening today. It has happened for the last 700 to 800 years, since the Ottoman empire was formed and resettlement back and forth of Christians and Muslims has taken place.

Does my hon. colleague agree with me that we should recognize that the ethnic cleansing is not only occurring today but it occurred back in the early 1900s when the Ottoman empire was falling apart and was disengaging? There was ethnic cleansing at that time with genocide of the Armenians, the Pontians and so forth.

Will my hon. colleague support unanimous consent in the House that we realize that ethnic cleansing did not just take place today but it occurred in 1914 to 1922 with the Pontians and Armenians?

[Supply, April 27th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I want to share something with my colleague and ask for his comments. An e-mail came to me today and was addressed to the scientific community. It read:

Dear Colleagues,

I have to inform you that the threat for the VINCA Institute of Nuclear Sciences in Belgrade is going to be bombed is now realistic. As our attitudes and understanding of situations are different from the ones that politicians have, I am warning the scientific community of the disaster that would occur if the VINCA facility (two nuclear reactors, accelerator installation and ammonia cooling system, isotope production etc.) are hit.

I am sure that you will consider this information very seriously and I am appealing to you to do as much as you can to prevent that from happening.

Hoping that soon you will be able to continue your collaboration, I am sending you my best regards,

Yvanka Bozovic

VINCA Institute of Nuclear Sciences.

This is a nuclear facility in Belgrade. Does my hon. colleague, who is very close to my riding and shares a lot of my concerns, have any comments to make in this regard?

[The Balkans, April 22nd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today and am pleased to inform the House and all Canadians a delegation of Serbian Canadians visited me in parliament last Friday to discuss peace in the Balkans.

During this visit the delegation was given the opportunity to express its views to the Prime Minister. The delegates spoke about their concerns with regard to the ongoing crisis in Yugoslavia. They put forth their view that Canada should stop its bombing of Yugoslavia and convince its NATO allies to do the same. They believe that only through diplomatic effort can true peace be achieved.

The Prime Minister assured the delegates he has taken the initiative to bring a stop to the conflict and will continue to do so. He also said that he would raise the matter with the Chinese premier, which he later did. The Prime Minister concluded by saying that he shares their fears for the lives of the innocent population stuck in the conflict.

I and I am sure all Canadians are hoping that a peaceful solution to this grave crisis will be arrived at soon.

[Kosovo, April 12th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for his particular question. I would give him the following answer. If NATO or a similar organization had existed at that time I wish it had acted. However, there was an organization that did go in to help. The only thing it did was uproot the people and drive them out of their homes. It caused the Ottoman Empire to inflict more harm on the people than it would have done. Maybe what NATO is doing today is similar to that time.

We have seen how many refugees were coming out of Kosovo before NATO struck. After NATO struck, the number of refugees coming out jumped and quadrupled. After watching television last night and seeing refugees in FYROM, the former Yugoslavian Macedonian Republic, behind barbed wire, it brought haunting images back to my mind of when I visited Dachau in Munich at the age of five.

I say to my friends that peace is the one thing that we must work for. We should not put aside the use of uranium.