SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 290 - Mar/18/24

Mar/18/24 6:54:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an important reality that we have to delineate, and we must create clarity for this issue when we are speaking of innocent lives, children, women, folks just like us and those who are watching, who wake up every day, expect to go to work and expect to come back to a family and be able to live a regular life. However, that opportunity is so absent and so lost with what we are seeing in Gaza and the West Bank that even the idea that these people can return to a kind of normalized life is so far out of the frame that it is truly tragic. Canada can be a leader towards global peace if we will it. I mentioned in my speech that we have our own history and that we are working towards a better relationship with our own history of imperialism and colonization. We have so much more to do in our own country for the equality of indigenous people here that it is going to take immense reflection by all of us to truly see how important it is. Whether it is Quebec or my tiny Métis community in Alberta, we are united by laws of just basic humanity, and I hope that those basic laws of humanity I spoke of can translate across the globe towards peace and security for all those persons who are innocent.

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Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

Mar/18/24 6:55:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on a human rights and humanitarian crisis in Palestine and Israel. I thank my colleagues for tabling this motion. I encourage all members in the chamber to not turn a blind eye to the current ethnic cleansing happening and the serious violations of international law in Palestine. As members of Parliament, we cannot forget that our decisions have wide-reaching consequences and can often make the difference between life and death. The death toll in Gaza, caused by Netanyahu's bombardment and ground offensive, has now climbed to over 30,000 people since October 7. It is estimated that over 70% of them are women and children. When we treat the loss of human beings as mere casualties, as numbers to be forgotten, we lose our own humanity. It is a testament to the compassion of so many people in Canada and their sustained advocacy all winter that we are here today, calling on our leaders not to remain complicit in the face of what is being investigated as a potential genocide in the International Court of Justice. The horrific terrorist attack of October 7 by Hamas, and Netanyahu's response to collectively punish the people of Gaza, who bear no responsibility for the terrorism of October 7, must be condemned. I am proud of my Jewish heritage, and I am lifting up calls for peace along with other Jewish voices, like the heroic Vivian Silver, a 74-year-old Israeli Canadian peace activist who spent her life working towards a just peace in Palestine, provided specialized medical care in the West Bank and Gaza, and tragically lost her life during the October 7 attack in Israel by Hamas. Like her son, Yonatan Zeigen, I never lose sight of continuing the legacy of my father, Albert Gazan, a Holocaust survivor from Holland, who fought for a just peace and a livable world where all people are able to live in dignity and with human rights. I echo what Yonatan shared so powerfully when asked what his mother would think about what was happening in Gaza. He said, “She would be mortified, because you can't cure killed babies with more dead babies. We need peace. That's what she was working for all her life.” Like his mother, my father spent his whole life working for peace, and he would have agreed with what Yonatan Zeigen shared, because he understood that no amount of killing would have ever healed the trauma and loss that he experienced as a result of the Holocaust. The only thing that would relieve his pain was to know that what happened to him would never happen again, but it is happening again. In fact, his cause for a just peace was so profound that, just before he died, he sat down with my adopted uncle, Jim Kinzel, to help write his eulogy. He wanted to ensure he would leave the world sharing his final teachings about humanity, human rights and peace. I share his words with the House today. Being born to Jewish parents in Holland, my father was just two years old when the Nazis invaded Holland and was soon separated from our family and forced into hiding for years. He had to take on a new name and relocate several times. By the end of the Holocaust, of the hundred or so of our extended family members, only five survived. I will never forget the story of when my father visited his uncle in the hospital shortly after the war. His uncle, who had lost his pregnant wife and all five children, began screaming and crying uncontrollably upon seeing my father. He could not live with the fact that he had survived and they had not. I think about the thousands of Palestinians who will never see their loved ones again, many of whom will grow up almost devoid of family as a result of genocide, as my sister and I did. It was very lonely. My father was also an advocate of peace. At six years old, while alone and in hiding, he threw a rock at a sparrow and killed it. He immediately felt terrible and realized that was wrong, pledging to never kill again. He knew that nothing could justify the death of an innocent being. He carried this belief with him throughout his life, and while he hated Germany for the genocide it committed against our family, his retribution was to beat the German boys at soccer. When later asked his opinion on what was happening in Israel and Palestine, he talked about injustices on both sides and did not fear criticizing the State of Israel. “The only way to leave Auschwitz behind me was to become a citizen of the world,” he said. He would not kill the sparrow, regardless of what it looked like. Today, Palestinians are being killed indiscriminately with weapons provided by many countries, likely including military goods and technology made in Canada in violation of our obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty. The people of Gaza are starving in part because the Canadian government suspended aid and refuses to push Israel to allow life-saving aid trucks in. I am reminded of what my father always said about refusing to share resources with people in need, “Stop the dialogue if anyone suggests that there is not enough room in the lifeboat for everyone, because the next thing to discuss is who gets thrown out. And then we are back on the road to Auschwitz.” It is the memory of my father, Albert Gazan, that inspires me to support this motion to end the injustices being committed in Palestine through the following measures: an immediate ceasefire and release of all hostages; suspending all trade in military arms and technology with Israel and increased efforts to stop the illegal trade of arms, including to Hamas; ensuring long-term funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Palestine; supporting the prosecution of all crimes and violations of international law, including by the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court; ensuring that the Canadians trapped in Gaza are safely evacuated and lifting the arbitrary limit of 1,000 applications under the temporary resident visa; demanding the supply of continuous humanitarian aid to Gaza; banning extremist settlers from Canada and imposing sanctions on officials who incite genocide; advocating an end to the occupation of Palestine; and officially recognizing the state of Palestine. In memory of my father, I am saying, “Not in our name.” I urge others with common histories of genocide to not let our pain overshadow our shared humanity. I ask my fellow parliamentarians to vote in favour of this motion to put an end to the violence and work for peace and justice for all people in Palestine and Israel. “Never again” means never again for everyone.

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Mr. Marty Morantz (Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, CPC)

Mar/18/24 7:03:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I was scrolling through my social media over the last couple of days, and I came across a photograph of Anne Frank and her sister frolicking on a beach in Germany. The year was 1940. Five years later, they were dead, killed by Hitler and the Nazis and his brutal genocidal machine. Appeasing terrorists leads to a very dark place. I wonder why the member would not have insisted that this motion be balanced, that it require accountability on the part of Hamas, that Hamas surrender, lay down its arms, turn over all the hostages and surrender all the terrorists for prosecution in Israel for their war crimes.

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Ms. Leah Gazan

Mar/18/24 7:04:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I actually visited Anne Frank House when I was in Amsterdam. My dad was a Dutch Jew from Holland, and when I went, a number of years ago, to visit Anne Frank House, I was really moved. Human rights are human rights; human beings are human beings, and the suffering of one is the suffering of all. I cannot discriminate between whose suffering was worse, that caused by the Holocaust or what we are seeing now. “Never again” means never again. I do not like the fact that I know there are going to be so many Palestinian children who are going to grow up lonely, like I have. I have no family because of genocide: five relatives, including my father. It is lonely. There are no big holiday dinners. That is what I am thinking about, not whose fault it is. Genocide is genocide. The rule of law is the rule of law. Following international law is following international law. I know that in the Jewish community we have differences that come from a place of deep pain and loss. I lift that pain up and I carry it every single day, but we need to come together in our collective humanity. When is this going to end in the world? When are we going to stop killing each other in the name of victory? I support my father, Albert Gazan. I am proud to be his daughter, and I am proud to stand today in support of a free Palestine and in support of a just peace for all people throughout the world. I am Albert Gazan's daughter.

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Mr. Matthew Green (Hamilton Centre, NDP)

Mar/18/24 7:06:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there have been lots of conversations in the House around trying to find balance. In fact, the Conservatives' position has somehow been to try to make this whole thing, all of the atrocities, all of the murders and all of the deaths, to be solely Hamas's fault. In asking for balance, not once have they acknowledged that Hamas does not own F-16 fighter jets. Hamas does not own 2,000-pound bombs that have been dropped on civilian populations. Hamas did not force people from the north to the south and then threaten to invade Rafah. Hamas did not bomb schools and hospitals. In finding balance and seeking balance with some of the ridiculous assertions from the Conservative caucus, could the hon. member please reflect on what the imbalance of power and the asymmetry of power and military might looks like in that region and what the legacy of settler colonialism looks like here in this country?

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Ms. Leah Gazan

Mar/18/24 7:07:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is one of the reasons we are calling for an immediate arms embargo. Why are we providing arms to a state that is being investigated for a potential genocide? I know what genocide feels like. I know what genocide feels like because of my father, because of my grandmother, who survived Auschwitz. It destroys families. It rids people of histories. I know what genocide looks like in Canada. It rids one of one's family. It creates this space of loneliness, and for what? Who is winning here? All I see, when I look at both sides, are people dying, kids starving to death and sexual violence. It is bad. It is wrong. I see, daily, a violation of international human rights law. We are talking about human beings. I do not care. These are human beings, deserving of freedom, love, dignity, safety and peace. Free Palestine.

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Hon. Steven MacKinnon (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Mar/18/24 7:09:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today in the House, we have had an important debate on an issue that is global in scope and very historic, but also heartbreaking. I know that all points of view expressed in the House come from the heart and from a fundamentally Canadian emotion that drives us to seek peace. It is very much in this spirit that I move: That the motion be amended as follows: (a) in paragraph (ii), by adding the word “being” after the word “victims”; (b) by replacing paragraph (iii) with the following: “Hamas is a listed terrorist organization in Canada whose attacks on October 7, 2023, killed nearly 1,200 Israelis and that over 100 hostages remain in Hamas captivity”; (c) in paragraph (iv), by replacing the words “millions of” with the words “1.7 million”; (d) by adding, after paragraph (vi), the following new paragraph: “all states, including Israel, have a right to defend themselves and in defending itself, Israel must respect international humanitarian law and the price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continuous suffering of all Palestinian civilians”; (e) by replacing paragraph (viii) with the following: “the increase in extremist settler violence against Palestinians and reports of Palestinian communities being forcibly removed from their lands in the West Bank”; (f) by replacing paragraph (a) with the following: “demand an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and Hamas must lay down its arms”; (g) by replacing paragraph (b) with the following: “cease the further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel to ensure compliance with Canada’s arms export regime and increase efforts to stop the illegal trade of arms, including to Hamas”; (h) by replacing paragraph (c) with the following: “ensure continued funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to meet the dire humanitarian need, engage with the United Nations internal investigation and independent review process, and ensure implementation of necessary long-term governance reforms and accountability measures”; (i) in paragraph (d) by deleting the words “, and support the work of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court”; (j) by adding, after paragraph (d), the following new paragraph: “support the work of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court”; (k) by replacing paragraph (f) with the following: “ensure Canadians trapped in Gaza can reach safety in Canada and expand access to the temporary resident visa program”; (l) by replacing paragraph (g) with the following: “sanction extremist settlers and maintain sanctions on Hamas leaders”; (m) by replacing paragraph (h) with the following: “reaffirm that settlements are illegal under international law and that settlements and settler violence are serious obstacles to a negotiated two-state solution, and advocate for an end to the decades long occupation of Palestinian territories”; and (n) by replacing paragraph (i) with the following: “work with international partners to actively pursue the goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East, including towards the establishment of the State of Palestine as part of a negotiated two-state solution, and maintain Canada’s position that Israel has a right to exist in peace and security with its neighbours”.

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The Deputy Speaker

Mar/18/24 7:14:15 p.m.
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It is my duty to inform the hon. member that an amendment to an opposition motion may be moved only with the consent of the sponsor of the motion. Therefore, I will ask the member for Edmonton Strathcona if she consents to the amendment being moved.

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Ms. Heather McPherson

Mar/18/24 7:14:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I do consent.

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Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner

Mar/18/24 7:23:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order that pertains to the relevancy of this amendment. On page 541 of chapter 12, Bosc and Gagnon says that an amendment may not be in order if “it deals with a matter foreign to the main motion, exceeds its scope, or introduces a new proposition which should properly be the subject of a separate substantive motion with notice”. This morning, the Minister of Foreign Affairs stood in this place and talked about how this motion would substantively alter Canada's foreign policy positions on matters of grave urgency to the entire world. This amendment has been dropped with, to my point of order, substantive changes to the original motion, which no member in this place has had a chance to look at or debate since it was provided to the Table. For example, for your consideration, it is adding, after paragraph (vi), a new paragraph on Israel and its right to defend itself; adding paragraph (d), support the work of the International Criminal—

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The Deputy Speaker

Mar/18/24 7:24:37 p.m.
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Could the hon. member summarize that? The hon. member for Calgary Nose Hill.

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Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner

Mar/18/24 7:24:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, amendment (m) reads, “reaffirm that settlements are illegal under international law and that settlements and settler violence are serious obstacles”. These are all major substantive amendments to the scope of the original motion. As I argued, and as said on page 541 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice, this materially “introduces a new proposition which should properly be the subject of a separate substantive motion”. Given that it is major public policy for Canada, peer nations are going to be watching this debate, watching this table drop at seven o'clock—

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The Deputy Speaker

Mar/18/24 7:25:17 p.m.
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I am going to confer with the Table for a few moments. I appreciate the hon. member's input. We have been debating this at length all day long. I believe that the amendments, as they have been presented, are in order.

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Mr. Scott Reid

Mar/18/24 7:26:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the key thing here is that we cannot expand the scope to take in more subject matter than was in the original motion. We see that one of the amendments proposed by the government would expand to deal with settlements on the West Bank. This is not a motion about the West Bank. It is about Gaza. Indulging in a discussion about aspects of Israeli policy that deal with some other area, with Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Syria and the occupation of the Golan, is outside the original scope. It is very nice that the government would like to add the settlements on the West Bank. Perhaps they should have been in the original motion, but they are not. They are part of a separate topic. The government cannot now violate parliamentary practices based on the fact that its members think they should have been included. The government should have debated this before introducing the motion and not change it now at the end of debate. That is well beyond the scope of the original motion.

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Hon. Marco Mendicino

Mar/18/24 7:27:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, I want to echo the sentiments and frustrations that have been expressed by my colleagues across the aisle. I think what you are hearing is a concern that the very elaborate amendments that have just been introduced by the government House leader have not been debated. There has been no notice, and this is very detailed. In the meantime, we have an underlying motion that has been put forward by the NDP, which has been the subject of debate. I feel obliged to add that, on behalf of my constituents in Eglinton—Lawrence, my plan was to vote against the underlying motion of the NDP for reasons that I would otherwise state. I would say that this is a point of order that should be explored and carefully studied. I would argue that it potentially offends member's privileges in terms of being able to debate the very motions that we are asked to vote on.

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Mr. Denis Trudel

Mar/18/24 7:28:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois cannot take a position on the government's amendment because we do not have a French version of the amendment. We simply cannot take a position at the moment.

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The Deputy Speaker

Mar/18/24 7:28:31 p.m.
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Hopefully we will have a translation soon enough. Perhaps we could pause for at least two minutes to see how soon we could have a translated version of the amendment. The hon. member for Calgary Nose Hill on the same point of order.

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Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner

Mar/18/24 7:28:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, to echo my colleague's comments on the scope of this, as to including the West Bank issue, my colleague from the Bloc is absolutely right. We are being asked to vote on a matter that is material to Canadian foreign policy, and we do not have it in both official languages.

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Mr. Anthony Housefather

Mar/18/24 7:29:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to echo the point of view of the hon. member for Eglinton—Lawrence. This was tabled after the entire debate had concluded. How can there be such substantive amendments that nobody has had the chance to see or debate at all? It offends my privileges and the privileges of the people of Mount Royal.

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The Deputy Speaker

Mar/18/24 7:29:33 p.m.
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I am going to pause for a couple of minutes to look at this appropriately.

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