House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 62% of the vote.
National Defence June 17th, 2016
Madam Speaker, my colleague is wrong. The fact that the United Nations has recognized the genocide of the Yazidis does not change at all our tremendous commitment to fight this terrorist group and to eradicate it.
That is precisely why we improved the mission of Canada in this region of the world. We have tripled our efforts for training. We have doubled our intelligence capacity and we are improving our programs for development to rescue these populations.
National Defence June 17th, 2016
Madam Speaker, the House was right to decide that in order to be sure that atrocities are genocide, we need to follow the highest standards possible. That is why we acted after we had seen the report of the United Nations.
However, this is not the main point. The main point is that Canada is on the ground. We tripled our efforts to train the peshmerga to be sure that we will eradicate this terrible terrorist group and will rescue these populations.
Foreign Affairs June 16th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, my colleague is wrong. In fact, we acted with a lot of strength to be sure that we will eradicate this awful terrorist group, which is the so-called Islamic State. That is why we have tripled our capacity to train the peshmerga in order to be sure that we will be rescuing these populations. That is the goal. I call upon all my colleagues to support the plan that Canada is making on the ground to help these populations.
Foreign Affairs June 16th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, as I said, in fact, we have tripled our capacity to train the peshmerga, who are the fighters in the best situation to rescue these populations. We have a strong plan. Canadians must be proud of what Canadians are doing in Iraq and in Syria, with our allies. We improved the plan precisely because we need to act to protect these populations.
Foreign Affairs June 16th, 2016
Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, it is the party of my hon. colleague that contradicted itself. In order to have the seat, it said something, and after the election it said something else.
We are very consistent. It is very clear that I have the power, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, to stop export permits if weapons are poorly used, regarding our national interests, the interests of our allies, or human rights. The Prime Minister asked me to exercise this power with a lot of rigour and a lot of transparency.
Foreign Affairs June 16th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, my colleague is wrong. The Government of Britain and the White House have the same approach as us. However, that is not the main point.
The main point is that we need to rescue these populations. It is why we have tripled our effort to train the peshmerga guards, which gives the fighters the best situation to rapidly rescue this population that is in danger. That is the priority we have, and it is why we are taking the lead.
Foreign Affairs June 16th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, in fact, our position is exactly the same as the one of the Government of Britain and the administration of the United States.
The difference, though, is that we are taking the lead in asking the Security Council to be sure that they will prosecute the perpetrators of these atrocities and investigate in order to understand very well what is happening on the ground.
In the meantime, we have tripled our effort to help fight ISIL on the ground, because we need to rescue this population. This is the priority.
Foreign Affairs June 16th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times in the House, we strongly condemn the horrendous atrocities committed by the so-called Islamic State.
Today for the first time, an independent report by the UN commission has concluded that genocide was committed by the so-called Islamic State against the Yazidis in Sinjar. Given this evidence, our government believes that genocide against the Yazidis is currently ongoing.
That is why we are once again calling on the UN Security Council to take urgent action, as I did last month.
Foreign Affairs June 15th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, if members want to hear a responsible motion on this issue, I will read the one by the member for Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs.
It says, “That the Government of Canada continue its efforts to have these atrocities properly investigated and, where appropriate, referred to the International Criminal Court to formally determine the existence of genocide and to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice”.
This is a responsible motion.
Foreign Affairs June 15th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, the EU parliament is not being followed by any parliament in Europe, but the U.K. The government of the U.K. has said the same thing we said, that the proper way to do it is to follow the motion proposed by the Liberal member.
This motion said that it must be done by an independent body to determine if it is really a genocide. That is the proper way to do it, not the way the Conservatives want to do it. No one government is following the way they want to do it.