Speech (House debate)

{
    "time": "2012-06-05 22:40:00",
    "attribution": {
        "en": "Hon. Jim Karygiannis (Scarborough\u2014Agincourt, Lib.)",
        "fr": "L'hon. Jim Karygiannis (Scarborough\u2014Agincourt, Lib.)"
    },
    "content": {
        "en": "<p data-HoCid=\"2907143\" data-originallang=\"en\">Mr. Chair, it is almost 16 months since things happened in Syria. In January 2011, a series of protests began in Syria. Among other things, Syrian protesters called on the Syrian president and his government to bring in political reforms and stronger protection of civil rights. It was the beginning of the Arab Spring. Sixteen months later, we have a situation in Syria in which it is not any longer spring, but deep winter. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907144\" data-originallang=\"en\">I mentioned in this House earlier tonight that in October 2011\u2014October 18, as a matter of fact\u2014I asked for unanimous consent for a motion to be passed. We asked for a motion for an emergency debate to be passed, and neither one of them flourished. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907145\" data-originallang=\"en\">I even wrote to the minister on August 19, 2011, enclosing a letter from the Syrian Canadian Council, at which time they were asking the Canadian government to do the following: </p>\n<blockquote><p data-HoCid=\"2907146\" data-originallang=\"en\"> 1. Ensure that Canadian companies, such as Suncor Energy Inc., are not funding the present Syrian regime; </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907147\" data-originallang=\"en\"> 2. Call for a Conference of members of the Syrian Diaspora and others who were interested in developing a free and democratic Syria; </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907148\" data-originallang=\"en\"> 3. Offer to host the Conference in Canada under the auspices of the Canadian Government and assist with the funding of the Conference; </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907149\" data-originallang=\"en\"> 4. Expel the Syrian Ambassador to Canada; and, </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907150\" data-originallang=\"en\"> 5. Consider recalling the Canadian Ambassador to Syria. </p>\n</blockquote><p data-HoCid=\"2907151\" data-originallang=\"en\">That was August 2011, and to date I have not heard from the minister, not even a whisper and not even a return email. We did get a receipt that the minister did read it.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907152\" data-originallang=\"en\">However, the Canadian-Syrian diaspora is asking for much more. They and our party as well have asked that CIDA match dollar for dollar whatever the community raises in order to help their loved ones back in places like Turkey, Libya and Jordan where they have fled, but again, nothing from the government.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907153\" data-originallang=\"en\">There are people who have come to this country and have claimed refugee status for what is happening back in Syria. There are Syrians who were here in Canada before the atrocities started and have claimed refugee status, yet the government is not saying, \u201cYes, go ahead; we will accept your claim\u201d. Instead people have to resort to courts, and courts are refusing their applications.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907154\" data-originallang=\"en\">I even got an email this evening from a young man who is in Canada, Mike Wise. It states, \u201cToday my house in Aleppo City was under fire and the Syrian army destroyed more than three buildings beside where my mom and sisters live. More than 44 people died under fire.\u201d</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907155\" data-originallang=\"en\"> The atrocities are perpetrated by the government of Syria, the Assad regime. It is not the first time he has done it, and his father did it before him. These atrocities need a quick response, and the quick response is that we should not have waited 16 months after it started to have a debate in this House.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907156\" data-originallang=\"en\">The Government of Canada issues press release after press release, but has done absolutely nothing else except to address the situation. The Syrian community of Canada has asked the government to match dollar for dollar. We do not have a crisis on our hands of the kind we did in Haiti, and the <a data-HoCid=\"78738\" href=\"/politicians/stephen-harper/\" title=\"Stephen Harper\">Prime Minister</a> is not going to go to the Red Cross and give money. It does not really matter, so the government is not listening.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907157\" data-originallang=\"en\">The accountability has to start right here, tonight. The member for Mississauga South, I believe, says we must, and I will repeat the words, \u201cbe held accountable\u201d. I think the Canadian people and the Syrian diaspora in Canada are holding us all accountable, especially the government, because the government waited for 16 months to have the Syrian debate in the House, has not answered the diaspora's calls for action and certainly has not answered its calls to match dollar for dollar, which is what they are asking.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907158\" data-originallang=\"en\">The minister of immigration is not assuring the community that we will take seriously their calls to stay in Canada and to be protected. He is not taking it seriously by telling the courts or his bureaucrats to stop deporting people or to not to turn their claims away.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907159\" data-originallang=\"en\">The accountability should start in this House. It should start right here, today, and the government especially has to be held accountable. It has waited long enough, and this is why things are as bad as they are in Syria.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907160\" data-originallang=\"en\">Accountability should start in the House and it should start right here today. The government has to be held accountable. It waited long enough and that is why things are as bad as they are in Syria. </p>",
        "fr": "<p data-HoCid=\"2907143\" data-originallang=\"en\">Monsieur le pr\u00e9sident, la situation actuelle en Syrie a d\u00e9but\u00e9 il y a maintenant pr\u00e8s de 16 mois. Les premi\u00e8res manifestations ont eu lieu en janvier 2011. Les manifestants demandaient notamment au pr\u00e9sident syrien et \u00e0 son gouvernement de proc\u00e9der \u00e0 des r\u00e9formes politiques et de prot\u00e9ger davantage les droits civils. C'\u00e9tait le d\u00e9but du printemps arabe. Seize mois plus tard, la situation en Syrie n'a plus rien \u00e0 voir avec le printemps, mais plut\u00f4t avec un hiver glacial. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907144\" data-originallang=\"en\">J'ai indiqu\u00e9 plus t\u00f4t ce soir qu'en octobre 2011 \u2014 le 18, pour \u00eatre plus pr\u00e9cis \u2014, j'avais demand\u00e9 sans succ\u00e8s \u00e0 la Chambre d'adopter une motion \u00e0 l'unanimit\u00e9. Nous avions aussi demand\u00e9 la tenue d'un d\u00e9bat d'urgence, mais cette demande a \u00e9t\u00e9 refus\u00e9e. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907145\" data-originallang=\"en\">J'ai m\u00eame \u00e9crit au ministre le 19 ao\u00fbt 2011 en joignant une lettre du Conseil canado-syrien, qui demandait alors au gouvernement canadien de prendre les mesures suivantes: </p>\n<blockquote><p data-HoCid=\"2907146\" data-originallang=\"en\"> 1. Faire en sorte que les entreprises canadiennes telles que Suncor Energy Inc. ne financent pas le r\u00e9gime syrien actuel; </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907147\" data-originallang=\"en\"> 2. Convoquer une conf\u00e9rence des membres de la diaspora syrienne et d'autres parties int\u00e9ress\u00e9es par la cr\u00e9ation d'une Syrie libre et d\u00e9mocratique; </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907148\" data-originallang=\"en\"> 3. Offrir de tenir la conf\u00e9rence au Canada, sous les auspices du gouvernement canadien, et contribuer au financement de la conf\u00e9rence; </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907149\" data-originallang=\"en\"> 4. Expulser l'ambassadeur de la Syrie au Canada; </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907150\" data-originallang=\"en\"> 5. Envisager de rappeler l'ambassadeur du Canada en Syrie. </p>\n</blockquote><p data-HoCid=\"2907151\" data-originallang=\"en\">C'\u00e9tait en ao\u00fbt 2011 et je n'ai toujours pas re\u00e7u de r\u00e9ponse du ministre, m\u00eame pas un murmure, m\u00eame pas un courriel de retour. Nous avons eu un accus\u00e9 de r\u00e9ception indiquant que le ministre l'avait lu.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907152\" data-originallang=\"en\">Toutefois, la diaspora syrienne au Canada r\u00e9clame beaucoup plus que cela. Elle a demand\u00e9, et notre parti aussi, que l'ACDI double les sommes que la communaut\u00e9 parvient \u00e0 amasser pour aider les \u00eatres chers qui ont fui dans des endroits comme la Turquie, la Libye et la Jordanie, mais encore une fois, le gouvernement reste muet.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907153\" data-originallang=\"en\">Des gens sont venus au pays et ont demand\u00e9 le statut de r\u00e9fugi\u00e9 en raison de ce qui se passe en Syrie. Des Syriens qui \u00e9taient ici au Canada avant que les atrocit\u00e9s ne commencent ont r\u00e9clam\u00e9 le statut de r\u00e9fugi\u00e9; pourtant le gouvernement ne dit pas: \u00ab Oui, allez-y; nous allons accepter votre demande \u00bb. Les gens doivent plut\u00f4t recourir aux tribunaux qui refusent leur demande.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907154\" data-originallang=\"en\">J'ai m\u00eame re\u00e7u un courriel ce soir en provenance d'un jeune homme qui vit au Canada, Mike Wise. Il affirme: \u00ab Aujourd'hui, ma demeure dans la ville d'Alep a \u00e9t\u00e9 sous le feu de l'arm\u00e9e syrienne qui a d\u00e9truit plus de trois immeubles \u00e0 c\u00f4t\u00e9 de celui o\u00f9 habitent ma m\u00e8re et ma soeur. Plus de 44 personnes ont perdu la vie en raison des violences aujourd'hui \u00bb. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907155\" data-originallang=\"en\">Les atrocit\u00e9s commises par le gouvernement de la Syrie et le r\u00e9gime Assad ne sont pas les premi\u00e8res. Le p\u00e8re d'Assad en avait commises avant lui. La situation exige une r\u00e9action rapide et nous n'aurions pas d\u00fb attendre 16 mois apr\u00e8s le d\u00e9but de ces atrocit\u00e9s pour en d\u00e9battre \u00e0 la Chambre.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907156\" data-originallang=\"en\">Face \u00e0 cette situation, le gouvernement du Canada publie communiqu\u00e9 apr\u00e8s communiqu\u00e9, mais il ne fait absolument rien d'autre. La communaut\u00e9 syrienne du Canada a demand\u00e9 au gouvernement de verser une somme \u00e9quivalente aux dons qu'elle a recueillis. La crise \u00e0 laquelle nous sommes confront\u00e9s ne ressemble pas \u00e0 celle de Ha\u00efti et le <a data-HoCid=\"78738\" href=\"/politicians/stephen-harper/\" title=\"Stephen Harper\">premier ministre</a> ne fera pas de don \u00e0 la Croix-Rouge. Comme cela n'a pas vraiment d'importance, le gouvernement n'\u00e9coute pas.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907157\" data-originallang=\"en\">C'est ici ce soir que doit commencer la reddition de comptes. Si je ne m'abuse la d\u00e9put\u00e9e de Mississauga-Sud a d\u00e9clar\u00e9 que le r\u00e9gime \u2014 et je reprends les mots qu'elle a utilis\u00e9s \u2014, sera tenu responsable. Je crois que le peuple canadien et la diaspora syrienne au Canada nous tiennent tous responsables, particuli\u00e8rement le gouvernement qui a attendu 16 mois pour d\u00e9battre de la crise syrienne \u00e0 la Chambre, qui n'a pas r\u00e9pondu aux appels de la diaspora \u00e0 l'action et qui n'a certainement pas donn\u00e9 suite \u00e0 sa demande de verser une somme \u00e9quivalente aux dons recueillis.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907158\" data-originallang=\"en\">Le ministre de l'Immigration refuse d'assurer aux membres de la communaut\u00e9 syrienne que nous prendrons au s\u00e9rieux leurs demandes, que nous leur permettrons de demeurer au Canada et que nous leur accorderons notre protection. S'il les prenait au s\u00e9rieux, il dirait aux tribunaux et aux bureaucrates de mettre fin \u00e0 l'expulsion des gens et de cesser de refuser leurs demandes. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907159\" data-originallang=\"en\">La responsabilit\u00e9 devrait partir d'ici, \u00e0 la Chambre, et le gouvernement en particulier devrait \u00eatre tenu responsable. Il a attendu assez longtemps et c'est pourquoi les choses se sont tellement envenim\u00e9es en Syrie.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2907160\" data-originallang=\"en\">La responsabilit\u00e9 devrait partir d'ici, \u00e0 la Chambre, et le gouvernement en particulier devrait \u00eatre tenu responsable. Il a attendu assez longtemps et c'est pourquoi les choses se sont tellement envenim\u00e9es en Syrie.</p>"
    },
    "url": "/debates/2012/6/5/jim-karygiannis-5/",
    "politician_url": "/politicians/jim-karygiannis/",
    "politician_membership_url": "/politicians/memberships/3225/",
    "procedural": false,
    "source_id": "7629650",
    "h1": {
        "en": "Government Orders",
        "fr": "Initiatives minist\u00e9rielles"
    },
    "h2": {
        "en": "Situation in Syria",
        "fr": "La situation en Syrie"
    },
    "document_url": "/debates/2012/6/5/",
    "related": {
        "document_speeches_url": "/speeches/?document=%2Fdebates%2F2012%2F6%2F5%2F"
    }
}