Mr. Speaker, as the member for Edmonton Centre-East I wish to express deepest sorrow and sympathies on behalf of my constituents for the tragic events that took place in the United States. Profound thanks should go out to all those who have helped and indeed still are helping in this tragedy: volunteers, firefighters, police, medical personnel, Salvation Army, Red Cross and many more.
Last week four hijacked airplanes caused death and destruction in the United States unparalleled in modern history. It is one matter for terrorists to attack in small isolated numbers with regrettable but few casualties, but it is a very different matter when the terrorists attack a democratic state in full force causing 5,000 innocent civilian deaths and crippling a major world city.
The president of the United States has stated that they will act against those who perpetrated these crimes and those who harbour them. This is the case with bin Laden who has found long term safe harbour in Afghanistan. The Taliban in Afghanistan to date has refused all requests for extradition of bin Laden for the bombing of the USS Cole in the Gulf of Aden where 17 U.S. sailors were killed. Bin Laden remains free in Afghanistan where he is even regarded as a hero.
Obviously the sheltering of terrorists from justice has emboldened them to commit more heinous crimes against humanity. Canada and many other countries have now joined in the call to act against world terrorism. We hope and pray that response yet to be directed will affect those truly guilty and will have the effect to halt terrorism expansion by placing the bar of terrorist personal human tolls very firmly high.
Whatever response by the world will undoubtedly cost lives of Canadians and other freedom loving peoples of the world who participate. The price of peace is lives lost in war and the price can be very high.
We must remember too that a terrorist is by birth a citizen of a country and a member of a particular faith. Canadians simply sharing a common heritage or religion should never be viewed in the same light. Let us remember that most Canadians came from somewhere else. The heritage of most Canadians is as immigrants fleeing terrorism, dictators and war. All Canadians are resolute against importing this distasteful element of mankind to Canada.
Recently I attended ceremonies commemorating and honouring 100 years of Islamic presence in Canada. Many here would be surprised to learn that the first dedicated Muslim house of worship in North America, let alone Canada, is located in Edmonton. The 63 year old mosque exists as an important part of Canadian and North American history.
Canada's multicultural mosaic and interfaith strength act as a cornerstone of the well-being of Canadian society. In the days after the horror of September 11 we have seen reactions around the world to increase airport security and the security of public buildings and institutions. For years we have been advised that our national defence resources were woefully inadequate, yet governments have done little. Now that there is a national need for a strong and well equipped military we are unprepared.
In Ottawa, on September 11, I saw how unprepared our government was to react to the horrendous events unfolding in the United States. At 10 a.m. I drove to Parliament Hill in my private car and I was not stopped by security. I passed a number of rental vans parked outside Centre Block. Public parliamentary tours continued uninterrupted as if nothing had been happening.
I spoke to a tour guide who stated she was not aware of what was happening in the United States other than an explosion in an office building. No one had offered to advise her if she should advise members of her tour whether they were comfortable visiting and entering Canada's number one political building, just a couple of city blocks from the U.S. embassy, in light of what was unfolding in the United States.
I then went to the office of the Sergeant-at-Arms at 10.15 and received assurances that the Centre Block would be closed to public tours.
The public tours went on until 12 noon. At 10.30 the back of the East Block was closed due to the discovery of a suspicious package. At 11 o'clock the RCMP began to move people around the East Block away from the area. Even after the bomb disposal trucks left, the public still had full access to Parliament Hill.
It is to be noted at this point that at no time during this period was vehicle traffic restricted on Parliament Hill. By noon on September 11 all air traffic in the United States had been halted and planes were being diverted to Canada.
If terrorism were still in the air it was coming to Canada. It was only at 2 p.m., more than four hours after the crisis had begun to unfold, that the RCMP closed Parliament Hill to the public with barriers and were on guard duty.
The lessons to be learned in this security preparedness are many. On Parliament Hill the inability to act in the face of a grave threat to international security was all too apparent. Many persons, tourists and Hill staff alike were placed at risk.
The rapidly escalating crisis in New York and Washington certainly involved a risk to Parliament Hill, located just a couple of city blocks from the U.S. embassy. If we could not act quickly to make Parliament Hill safe, how could we make safe all of Canada's public buildings or their employees?
Public confidence is shattered by world events that involve threats to national interests. Public confidence needs to be restored through immediate and visible signs of security. Canada's armed forces should have been called out to assist in public protection when it was so obvious the RCMP did not have the personnel to sustain full guard duty.
High security is not an overreaction to these events. Rather it is a prudent exercise in the interests of public safety and confidence as well as to test the readiness of security potential. If we show hesitancy to provide immediate visible security for visitors and citizens of Canada when a dangerous event arises, we do not serve well our public confidence or public safety. If we have budgetarily stripped our security capabilities to the bone, inhibiting our forces in providing the security that Canadians expect, we have failed in our task of governing.
Over the next weeks and months we will be examining and re-examining many weaknesses in our national security network, be it ground, sea or air. We must learn from our mistakes and honestly reassess our weaknesses, then build and improve where needed.
Today we mourn and bury the dead. Today we stand together with Americans in sorrow, in reflection and in resolve. Today we also thank those who volunteered and those who served. Tomorrow we will act together to better protect our living.
