Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, everyone. I think Mariam really gave a description of what's happening in Syria and the horror. I'm going to concentrate more on what we can do. I think everyone has been touched by what they heard, and there's a lot we can do in Canada. First, I would like to thank

Foreign Affairs committee  We can start with the easy stuff, which is what we can do domestically. As I told you, the family reunification program is extremely important. I can't tell you the amount of anxiety and stress that Syrians are going through. As you probably know, and I have said in my testimon

Foreign Affairs committee  It's been highly documented that the Syrian opposition have difficulties unifying. At the same time, we are in a democratic, free country, and I don't think everyone here is unified. We have an opposition and we have—

Foreign Affairs committee  I think the big problem we have is that inside Syria we have so many groups, and we have a strong opposition, but they are not in the media.They haven't been heard about. As you know, opposing the regime inside Syria is either a death sentence or you're thrown in jail. Outside

Foreign Affairs committee  First, it's important to distinguish between political opposition and what's happening on the ground from non-violent activists, local coordination committees, and the rebels, who have been dubbed the Free Syrian Army. For sure, the rebels who are fighting have been fighting in a

Foreign Affairs committee  I think for us in Syria it's no surprise. We know that it's not the people who are dealing with the dictatorship. We know that there are multiple layers in this geopolitical game. We know that we're fighting Iran. We're fighting Russia and whatever other players there are in this

Foreign Affairs committee  They were from Lebanon, exactly. Hezbollah fighters have been killed in Syria. Interestingly, Iranian Revolutionary Guards were caught in Damascus. When they were asked what they were doing there, they said that yes, they were Revolutionary Guards. But when Iranian foreign affa

Foreign Affairs committee  For example, they are on the border of Turkey and Syria, near Kilis and Idlib. As well, 60% of Aleppo is under the control of rebels. The problem is that whenever you liberate an area, and then you have jet fighters bombing you from the sky, it's hard to maintain.

Foreign Affairs committee  To be honest with you, we gave the foreign minister a study on how Canada can support Syria. There were different ideas, different projects; even telecommunications were involved, actually. For example, one idea was to buy...activists could film what's happening. There was help t

Foreign Affairs committee  We are giving Iran and even Russia, in my opinion, a bigger role than what they actually have. I'm absolutely certain that if a no-fly zone were imposed in Syria, and if safe havens.... And by the way, there are liberated areas in Syria.

Foreign Affairs committee  Abdulbaset Sieda, the head of the SNC, and Burhan Ghalioun have entered Syria, and there are liberated areas. Hillary Clinton has even said, give us a liberated area and we'll protect it.

Foreign Affairs committee  I've met him myself, and we met him with Father Paolo, if you've heard of him. He's an Italian priest who was in Syria and was kicked out for criticizing the regime. We met with the foreign affairs minister, John Baird, approximately two months ago.

Foreign Affairs committee  That project is being driven by an organization called the Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organizations. It's based in Paris. It's registered in Paris, and the French Government has even given it funding. So far they have created 25 field hospitals inside Syria. One of the main

Foreign Affairs committee  Absolutely. He's been in communication with the government, and our communication was that it's sad that Syrians would have to pay a price for maybe political conflicts inside Canada. I don't know why this money was shifted to another area, but the price is that people are gettin

Foreign Affairs committee  As I said, domestically, what we can work on is the family reunification, the scholarships, the humanitarian side. If we are able to make, in the short term, the rebel fighters or the freedom fighters in Syria more coherent and support them...by the way, it shouldn't only be arms