House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2025, with 63% of the vote.
Situation in Lebanon and Israel October 1st, 2024
Madam Speaker, our government's position has been very clear. While UNRWA is an imperfect organization, it is the best organization to provide aid and assistance to Palestinian refugees around the world. That includes education and essential services. We need to ensure the safety of every one of their employees to make sure that they can do their work.
It is a UN organization. Canada is a proud member of the United Nations. We will continue to support UNRWA.
Situation in Lebanon and Israel October 1st, 2024
Madam Speaker, Israel has a right to defend itself within international law.
Situation in Lebanon and Israel October 1st, 2024
Madam Speaker, I believe the minister has actually been very clear on this issue. She has been very clear that, when it comes to export permits, we have absolutely not given any new export permits since January 8. However, we will also always support Israel's security, and that includes permits for the Iron Dome.
This is a complex situation. Again, we will make sure that there are no new permits. However, we also recognize that there are safety and security concerns, and Canada will be mindful of them as well.
Situation in Lebanon and Israel October 1st, 2024
Madam Speaker, I have been around here too long to fall into traps set by the Conservatives on this issue. The reality is that Israel has a right to defend itself, and there are international laws that they also need to follow. Israeli citizens tell me that every day. Jews in Canada tell me that every day. They understand the rule of law.
Israel is a democracy. Israel will follow the rule of law. Israelis have divided opinions at times, as does any democracy. However, we will continue to defend Israel's right to protect itself within international law.
Situation in Lebanon and Israel October 1st, 2024
Madam Speaker, heckling aside, the Prime Minister and the foreign affairs minister are working day and night, not making speeches in this House and not giving facile answers like the Conservatives, but trying to find ways to heal broken people, to solve an intractable situation and to have the community of nations build peace for each other. We are going to do that on this side of the House.
I believe that members of goodwill on every side of the House can work together. We promise to do our best. Let us find a way to do that together.
Situation in Lebanon and Israel October 1st, 2024
Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Willowdale for sharing his time with me.
I start out tonight by saying that there are few countries that are closer to my heart than Lebanon. There have been few people closer to my heart than the Lebanese people since my very first trip, when I spent time there in 1982, and experienced the war with people in Lebanon. The most recent outbreak of violence that has happened there is part of a long-standing cycle of some 50 years of chaos, interruption, war, civil conflict and international conflict, which has continued to plague the people of Lebanon.
October 7, however, was a watershed moment. The attack by Hamas on Israel and Israelis was a heinous, horrendous crime against humanity and a crime against the people of Israel. Hezbollah, its sibling terrorist organization, has been launching rockets at Israel ever since. Today's attack on Israel by Iran, a state sponsor of terror, is devastating.
We have reports of hundreds of long-range ballistic missiles, some of which have hit Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. As a government, we unequivocally condemn this new and unprecedented escalation, which has forced millions of Israelis and Lebanese, as well as Palestinians, to take shelter. We want it to be absolutely clear in the House that we affirm Israel's right to defend itself within international law. Attacks by Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran against Israel kill not only Israelis but also civilians in other countries; they destabilize the region, and they risk turning this into a wider regional war.
Canada will do everything in its power to continue to hold Iran accountable for its role in funding terrorist organizations. We are one of five countries that have named the IRGC as a terrorist organization. We urge all parties involved to respect international humanitarian law, to protect civilians, to protect humanitarian workers and to avoid any action that could ignite this war further.
We are gravely concerned about civilians in Lebanon tonight, thousands of whom are Canadians. The safety and security of Canadians at home and abroad is our top priority. This does not mean we value one human life over another; rather, as a government, we have a particular responsibility to protect Canadian citizens.
We were devastated by the death of two Canadians, Hussein and Daad Tabaja, who were killed by an IDF air strike while fleeing Beirut. All they sought was to live in security, with peace and dignity. We will continue to help Canadians escape Lebanon, to ensure that they reach safety and peace and to give them advice and warnings to get out of the country as quickly as possible, before this conflict spreads even further.
This is a conflict that has been going on, as has been said in the House, for decades. We owe it to the people of Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and the region to make tangible progress towards peace and stability. How do we do this? It is more than words, but we begin with diplomacy.
War kills people, not ideas. Diplomacy allows people to change their minds, for ideas to develop; ultimately, diplomacy does lead to peace. This past year, Canada has been exploring every possible avenue to ensure a diplomatic solution to the crisis in the Middle East, and it will continue to help solve the problem between Hezbollah and Israel. Immediate action to stop the violence is urgently necessary. We are committed to working with the international community to help advance peace in the region. Alongside our allies, we have called for a 21-day ceasefire along the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy and conversation.
We are also pushing for full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon. Our Prime Minister has been working this issue, working the phones and having conversations with leaders around the world, in search of a diplomatic solution. In just the last few days, the Prime Minister has had the opportunity to discuss the problem between Hezbollah and Israel, as well as the attack on Israel by Hezbollah, with the Prime Minister of Lebanon and the King of Jordan.
Last week, our Minister of Foreign Affairs was in New York for the 79th United Nations General Assembly. She called upon all parties, including the governments of Israel and Lebanon, to endorse a temporary ceasefire immediately. We are dealing with terrorist organizations, so diplomacy is particularly challenging, but rhetoric in this place does not change that reality. We still need to use all the tools we have in the diplomatic tool box to find a solution to a long-standing, generation-after-generation conflict.
Our foreign affairs minister continues to talk to the Prime Minister and foreign ministers of Lebanon, the G7 foreign ministers and the Israeli foreign minister, and her message has been consistent and clear: We must see a de-escalation of tensions at the border between Lebanon and Israel, and we will continue to defend Israel's right to protect itself.
While we have been doing this diplomatic work, we have also been engaging in humanitarian assistance. The conditions in Lebanon are worsening every day. We have been working in a way to try to get humanitarian aid into Gaza. We are continuing to work in the West Bank, we are continuing to work with women, particularly victims in Israel, and we will continue to work in Lebanon.
On Saturday, the government announced an additional $10 million in humanitarian assistance to address the urgent needs of civilians affected by this conflict. This funding will provide food, water, emergency health care, protection services and other life-saving aid. In addition to the $10 million already allocated by the United Nations central emergency response fund, Canada's total humanitarian assistance for Lebanon in 2024 is $37 million.
We are working at this diplomatically with conversations every day. We are working at this in defence of Israel and working to combat terrorist organizations, which are a scourge on this planet. We are also working with Canadian citizens to help get them out of Lebanon. We have done that in Gaza with great difficulty. We have done that in Israel. We have done that in the West Bank, and we are now trying to do that in Lebanon. It is not easy with a terrorist organization like Hezbollah, but we have been very clear with Canadians that they should get out while commercial flights are available. We have announced an additional 800 seats today over the course of the next three days that Canadians, permanent residents and immediate family have access to. There is a flight scheduled to depart today.
We will continue to work through every possible channel for the safety of civilians in Israel, West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon. The situation can deteriorate, so we will continue to provide diplomatic solutions and offer the best that Canada has to offer to ensure that we find ways for this conversation to continue.
There are no easy solutions to this problem. There are no easy answers to it. There can be rhetoric, there can be name-calling and there can be blaming, but rest assured that everyone on this side of the House, and I believe on that side of the House too, believes in Israel's right to defend itself within international law. We believe in the right for civilians to have safety and peace and humanitarian assistance and the right to live a good life. We all share that.
This conflict will not be solved by this debate tonight, but what can be solved tonight is to find a way to bring Canadians together to look at the needs of every person living in the region and to understand that we have to find a way to do that. Rhetoric that divides will not help. Rhetoric that brings us together will help. We will continue to do that.
Situation in Lebanon and Israel October 1st, 2024
Madam Speaker, the member is sharing his time. He just needs to put it in his speech.
Situation in Lebanon and Israel October 1st, 2024
Mr. Speaker, the member for Thornhill can have her own version of the truth, but she cannot change the truth. Earlier tonight, she tweeted something that took a clip out of what the Minister of Foreign Affairs had said at a press conference and cut it off at only a few seconds. It was a shameful act of misinformation and disinformation.
The minister did call for de-escalation in the situation, as Canadians have all called for, but she also said immediately thereafter that we support Israel's right to protect itself against the attacks. Why did the member cut that part to try to foster division in this country, when we are supposed to heal this country?
Privilege October 1st, 2024
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I believe there is an understanding that, when a member withdraws their remarks, they do not do it with an explanation of why they did not want to do so. They withdraw their remarks and perhaps express remorse.
As I stated earlier in the House, sexual harassment is a serious issue, and it should be taken very seriously as well. It does not matter what the intent is—
Points of Order October 1st, 2024
Mr. Speaker, with respect to your first ruling, I am not questioning it; however, I do have a question that I would like to raise in the House with respect to it, which is on the application of the sexual harassment policy of the House of Commons with respect to the way members treat each other.
We have all taken extensive training in sexual harassment. One of the key parts is that intent does not play into findings in those proceedings, but it is how someone receives them that matters, even though someone says that they have no intent. Therefore, I would like the Speaker to reflect on that to see whether the workplace sexual harassment policy applies in the chamber or whether it applies just outside the chamber.
It is a genuine question, and you can take time. I do not know the answer to it, but we did sit in many sessions with respect to sexual harassment training. I think the hardest thing for me to get in my head was that I might say something that I do not think causes offence, but if it is heard that way, then I need to own it. I just do not know whether that actually applies in the House or not.