Paul Dewar

[National Defence, October 9th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, despite all the rhetoric about the urgency of joining air strikes in Iraq, we have now learned that it will take nearly a month for Canadian Forces to get there, and there is no confirmed place to stage our planes. We saw the same thing when we heard that the government deployed 69 military advisers, but only 26 were needed.

Why did the Conservatives use urgency as an excuse to cut short the debate on Iraq, when they are not ready to go?

[Rouge National Urban Park Act, October 8th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague from London has brought in a private member's motion on urban forests. Clearly one of the things that is important is having a national strategy, and that is part of her bill.

Could my colleague share with me the importance of protecting parks and urban forests and the importance of the national strategy the NDP has put forward?

[Petitions, October 8th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by constituents and people in the Ottawa area who note that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is critical and that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East has declared an emergency. The petitioners note that the U.S. has already contributed tens of millions of dollars, and they ask that Canada do the same. They are asking that the government make an immediate contribution to UNRWA for the emergency and to help rebuild Gaza.

[National Defence, October 8th, 2014]

It is answers like that, Mr. Speaker, that have Canadians worried about mission creep.

Last night, the Conservatives voted against the NDP's alternative plan, which would have kept Canada out of the war in Syria. Nearly all of our allies have put into place clear caveats that will not allow them to go into Syria.

Can the government explain why it has opened the door to Canadian combat in Syria?

[National Defence, October 8th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Foreign Affairs said, “We are going to war with ISIL.”

I have a question for the government. What is its vision of victory? What are its criteria for victory, and does it still believe that it can win this war in six months?

[Foreign Affairs, October 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, that is hardly enough when people are threatened by a harsh winter and the government has announced no new money for refugee camps.

The question is how should Canada contribute while representing our strengths and values. The answer we have received from the government is plainly inadequate. More than that, its answer is, quite frankly, risky.

Nearly all our other allies explicitly ruled out a combat role in Syria. The Conservatives have explicitly opened the door to our combat role in Syria. Why is the government pushing us to war in Syria?

[Foreign Affairs, October 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, today, the government is cutting off debate on Canada's role in Iraq. It has left the door open to extending the mission, without returning to the House. It has left questions unanswered about why we would be getting involved in Syria's civil war. It has given no new help for civilian victims of ISIL's terror who are threatened by harsh winter conditions in the refugee camps.

Why has the government failed to have announced any new support for refugee camps in Iraq?

[Military Contribution Against ISIL, October 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, along with my colleagues on this side of the House, I have some real concerns about how well defined things are and what the goals and objectives are. After we heard from the government, one of the concerns that we have is that we are talking about three weeks, maybe, before we actually have planes situated somewhere. We are still not sure. That definition has not been provided by the government.

If the government is putting all of its focus on the air strikes, what happens in three weeks if there are no targets or if things have changed on the ground? Is there any other strategy that the government has come up with to deal with that scenario?

[Military Contribution Against ISIL, October 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I want to start off yet again by underlining the commitment the government made but did not fulfill with respect to Syrian refugees. Day in, day out, that minister gets up and says that the government has settled 1,500 refugees, when he knows it has not. Only 200 have arrived here. He knows that we should be opening the door to more instead of pretending what he claims they have done. It is uncharacteristic of our country and it is unbecoming of a minister to keep pushing that talking point.

We have heard a lot of interesting comments on that side. The one thing we were asked to do was support humanitarian assistance. I have in my hand the actual plan from the UN, and the minister will be familiar with it. The UN is asking for $360 million by November to help 390,000 vulnerable IDPs. They have already escaped. We in the NDP are saying that the noble thing to do would be to help protect people and get behind this plan instead of these ill-conceived air strikes. We do not know when the air strikes will start, and the government certainly does not know. We do not know where these planes will be situated.

Why not get behind a plan that would save lives right now?

[Military Contribution Against ISIL, October 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I want to take on the issue of humanitarian support. I also want to thank the government again for its contribution for victims of sexual violence and for prosecutions. I note that I was ridiculed by the Minister of Employment and Social Development for suggesting this, but his colleague actually announced money for the prosecution of those who are involved in sexual violence, so I note that contradiction.

I want to ask the minister a question. When we were there, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs can speak to this as well, it was absolutely clear that we had burned through all the money we had already committed. Yes, the $10 million committed today is great and is one of the four things the NDP asked for. However, does the member not understand that we need humanitarian support for the humanitarian crisis right now for the people who have already fled and to protect people?

All the schools in Erbil were filled with refugees. The kids could not go to school when we were there, because the schools were filled with refugees. That is why we have been so passionate about the need for humanitarian support and assistance right now. We should have been doing it back in September.

I would like to hear from the member what more we can do and what commitments we will look forward to hearing about from the government in terms of refugee support.