Speaker, I’m proud to co-sponsor this bill with the member for Thornhill, Laura Smith.

The bill amends the Change of Name Act to provide that certain offenders are ineligible to apply to change their name. The offenders who are ineligible are those who are required to comply with Christopher’s Law (Sex Offender Registry), 2000.

Mr. Dave Smith moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr30, An Act to revive Rapati Design and Construction Ltd.

This petition is titled “Support for the Passage of the Change of Name Amendment Act, 2023.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas sexual offences are heinous crimes, and protecting the community from sexual offenders should always be a priority, especially when these offenders try to change their name or identity;

“Whereas children are the most precious and vulnerable members of our community that deserve to feel safe and protected;

“Whereas victims and survivors of sexual offences live with pain and trauma from the actions of those who have preyed upon their vulnerability and made them suffer physically and emotionally;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To urge the government to ensure that our communities are safe places from sexual violence and offenders through the passage of the Change of Name Amendment Act, 2023.”

I affix my name hereto, and I will give it to page Isolde.

The petition is to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

“Whereas the Ford government cancelled rent control on units built after November 2018; and

“Whereas the cost to rent a home has never been higher; and

“Whereas people are being forced to leave their communities because decent, affordable homes are increasingly out of reach;

“Whereas the rent control for all units act, 2022, will ensure tenants are not gouged on rent each year;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to protect tenants from predatory rent increases and pass the NDP’s Rent Control for All Tenants Act today to ensure renters can live in safe and affordable homes.”

I will proudly sign this petition and return it to the table with page Michael.

This petition is titled “Ontario Needs a Rare Disease Strategy,” and it reads:

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario currently lacks a rare diseases strategy, which has left those who are living with rare diseases without access to the supports they need;

“Whereas in 2016, the Ministry of Health established a Rare Diseases Working Group committee to develop a provincial framework on this issue;

“Whereas the Rare Diseases Working Group Report was submitted to the government of Ontario in 2017 with important recommendations, which have never been implemented;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“Immediately pass the Rare Disease Strategy Act, and implement the recommendations set out in the 2017 Rare Diseases Working Group Report.”

I fully support this petition and will affix my signature to it.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the Ford government cancelled rent control on units built after November 2018; and

“Whereas the cost to rent a home has never been higher; and

“Whereas people are being forced to leave their communities because decent, affordable homes are increasingly out of reach; and

“Whereas the Rent Control for All Tenants Act, 2022, will ensure tenants are not gouged on rent each year;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to protect tenants from predatory rent increases and pass” the NDP’s “Rent Control for All Tenants Act today to ensure renters can live in safe and affordable homes.”

I fully support this petition, and I stand in solidarity with our Livmore High Park tenants who are experiencing predatory rent increases.

I have a petition to raise social assistance rates and, once again, I would like to thank Dr. Sally Palmer for continuing to do the hard work in getting these in to us.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and far from adequate to cover the rising costs of food and rent: $733 for individuals on OW and $1,227 for ODSP;

“Whereas an open letter to the Premier and two cabinet ministers, signed by over 230 organizations, recommends that social assistance rates be doubled for both Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP);

“Whereas the recent small budget increase of 5% for ODSP still leaves these citizens below the poverty line, both they and those receiving the frozen OW rates are struggling to live in this time of alarming inflation;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized in its CERB program that a ‘basic income’ of $2,000 per month was the standard support required by individuals who lost their employment during the pandemic;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly” of Ontario “to double social assistance rates for OW and ODSP.”

I couldn’t agree with this more. I’m going to affix my name to it and give it to page Gurkaram to bring to the Clerk.

The supplementary question.

The House recessed from 1145 to 1300.

Ms. Scott moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 138, An Act to amend the Change of Name Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act / Projet de loi 138, Loi modifiant la Loi sur le changement de nom et apportant des modifications corrélatives à une autre loi.

First reading agreed to.

First reading agreed to.

Mr. Bresee moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr26, An Act to revive 592605 Ontario Limited.

First reading agreed to.

Further debate?

When I was preparing for this debate, I looked back at a number of historical things. I thought about a lot of different things. Ultimately, what we’re talking about is the Hamas terrorist organization and the attacks that they made on Israel and the Jewish people that they killed. On October 7, it was the most Jews killed since the Holocaust. I thought about that, and I took a step back and started looking at some of the things from the Holocaust moving forward.

Last year, in January when we weren’t sitting, I had a couple of days where I took a little bit of time with my wife and actually read a couple of books. The books I read—my son joked with me that it was some light reading: The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Holocaust by Bullets were the two books. When you read the atrocities that happened during Nazi Germany and the attacks on Jews from it, and we look at the world today, nobody holds the German people accountable for what the Nazi Party did and the atrocities that they did. I think that is one of the key things we have to remember today with this conflict. No one is saying that Palestinian citizens, those innocent individuals who live in Gaza, are responsible for this. It is the Hamas terrorist organization that has done this.

As I look back at my life and some of the things that have gone on—and I talked to my kids about this—we all live in 2023, yes, but we live in a vastly different world here in Ontario than they do in the Middle East. It’s really difficult to take what would be our standards, our norms, and apply that in Israel.

My daughter asked me about this. She said, “Why can’t we?” I said to her, “You’re 26. Have you ever heard air-raid sirens?” Her answer was no. Air-raid sirens are something that frequently go off in different communities in Israel. On October the 7th at 6:30 in the morning in Jerusalem the air-raid sirens went off.

I’m 53. The only time I’ve heard an air-raid siren go off is when they were doing some work on a building that had an air-raid siren and they made a mistake on the electrical and it went off because they thought they were removing the electricity to that siren, but they actually activated the electricity to the siren. Everyone was confused as to what that noise was. But it’s not an unusual sound to hear in Israel.

My daughter said to me, “There’s a report of the terrorists coming into the kibbutz and going into safe rooms. What’s a safe room?” When you stop and think about that for a minute, if you live in Israel, when you build your home, you build a bomb-resistant room to protect your family from terrorist attacks. We don’t live in the same world that they do, because we don’t have to have that. We don’t have anything in our Ontario building code to define what a safe room should be, or how thick the walls should be to protect you from a rocket attack. And yet, we have people who are saying this is normal. It’s not normal for us. It’s a completely different world that they’re living in. The threat of a terrorist attack is so great in Israel that they hear air-raid sirens frequently, that they have to build a room in their home that is bomb-resistant, because that’s what they face on a daily basis.

We had a number of years of peace in Israel, and when I think back again to my own childhood—I’m 53; I was born in 1970. I was not alive during the Six-Day War and I was not alive during—sorry, I was alive, but I was only three during the conflict in 1973. But I remember, in elementary school, turning on the TV and seeing on CBC, seeing on ABC or NBC—on network television, which 30-year-olds wouldn’t know anything about today because, at the time, we only had about five or six channels. But I remember seeing terrorist attacks; it seemed like it was a daily occurrence. Beirut was under attack. Tehran was under attack. Tel Aviv was under attack. It was a different world, and we got to a point where things were moving forward, where there was some semblance of peace.

The Palestine Liberation Organization was considered a terrorist organization at one point. Yasser Arafat was an enemy of most of the world at one point, and yet Israel was able to negotiate with them and come to a peace agreement. In 2000, there was an offer for a peace agreement that Hamas said no to and broke, and there have been multiple times where there have been negotiations for peace—to lay down arms and not fight—and Hamas has always said no to it. In their charter—it’s been said multiple times—in the charter for Hamas, it is the annihilation of Israel. Their statement, “From the River to the Sea,” is all of Israel.

I think back again to some of the things that I experienced as a young adult, as a teenager. I was listening to some music last night, and I know there have been a couple of times where I’ve had speeches where I’ve quoted some lyrics from songs. I’m going to do it again because I heard this last night again and it really stuck with me.

The Pink Floyd album The Final Cut: There were a lot of political statements that were in that album, but one song in particular, The Gunner’s Dream, is about Roger Waters’s father, who was a gunner in the Second World War. The lyrics—normally I don’t read stuff, I usually go from my memory, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t make a mistake on this one. Think of it from the perspective of someone who was a gunner in an aircraft in the Second World War, and the aircraft has been shot down and he’s parachuting to safety.

Floating down through the clouds

Memories come rushing up to meet me now

In the space between the heavens

And in the corner of some foreign field

I had a dream

I had a dream

Goodbye Max

Goodbye Ma

After the service when you’re walking slowly to the car

And the silver in her hair shines in the cold November air

You hear the tolling bell

And touch the silk in your lapel

And as the tear drops rise to meet the comfort of the band

You take her frail hand

And hold on to the dream

During the Second World War, the fighting was to liberate Europe, but the fighting was also because of the genocide that was being perpetrated against Jews. And the dream was that freedom. The dream was stopping the racism, the hatred and the demonizing of a race of people. The song goes on to say:

A place to stay

Enough to eat

Somewhere old heroes shuffle safely down the street

Where you can speak out loud

About your doubts and fears

And what’s more no one ever disappears

You never hear their standard issue kicking in your door

You can relax on both sides of the tracks

And maniacs don’t blow holes in bandsmen by remote control

And everyone has recourse to the law

And no one kills the children anymore

And no one kills the children anymore

Night after night

Going round and round my brain

His dream is driving me insane

In the corner of some foreign field

The gunner sleeps tonight

What’s done is done

We cannot just write off his final scene

Take heed of the dream....

That was written in 1983, and it was the memories of a musician—what his father went through fighting against an oppressive group who wanted to destroy an entire race of people because they saw those people as the source of all of their problems. When the rest of the world got involved in the war and the rest of the world stepped forward, and they saw the atrocities that were perpetuated on these individuals—we hear the stories of what it looked like in Auschwitz. We’ve seen the photos of how Jews were treated.

Germany—the Nazis—knew what they were doing was wrong, and they hid it. Hamas livestreamed what they were doing and were very proud of the fact that they went into villages and killed people, families, children. There was a peace festival going on.

Think about this. Let’s put it in perspective for North America. Taylor Swift draws how many thousands of people to one of her events? And all of those Taylor Swift fans are there, cheering on, listening to the music, and armed terrorists come in and shoot and kill 260 of them. We don’t live in a part of the world where that happens. Most people in Ontario cannot comprehend that because we’ve never had to experience that.

That’s what happened on October 7. You had thousands of people who were at a peace festival around music who got up that morning thinking they were going to have a great time, thinking they were going to be celebrating something. They were going to be with their friends. They were going to have just these memories that were going to last with them forever, and yes, they have memories now that will last forever, but those are not the memories that they should have.

For anyone to stand up and say that Hamas is justified in what they did is embarrassing. For anyone to stand up and defend Hamas, it is embarrassing.

After the Second World War, the world said, “We will not forget,” but we have people today who are advocating that we forget, who are advocating that Israel should not defend itself. There are people right now on social media from our communities who are standing up and saying Israel does not have the right to defend itself.

I remind you that, at 6:30 a.m., air-raid sirens went off in Jerusalem, not because of anything that the Jewish people in Israel did, but because a terrorist organization wanted to strike fear in an entire country, an organization whose mandate says that they are going to destroy the State of Israel.

A number of people have said that if they just lay down their weapons, it would all be over. You’re right. If Israel laid down their weapons, it would all be over. There would be no Israel. There would be an annihilation of Jews. That cannot happen. Anyone who professes to be anti-racist, anyone who stands up and says that we have to treat everyone equally, and then, in the next breath, defends Hamas is a word that I would be asked to withdraw, so I won’t say it directly, but it starts with an animal, like a hippo, and ends with a crit—

I didn’t say the word directly.

That’s what we’re facing today. I cannot believe that we have people who are standing up and defending Hamas. I cannot believe that we’re in a position today when we’re in the House again to be talking about this, that we have to be defending people against this—

Interjections.

We do not have bomb shelters in our homes. We do not have a safe room in our house in Ontario. We do not have, in our building code, dimensions and directions on what it should be, and yet the people of Israel must, because they face that terrorism every single day. If we don’t stand up and call out terrorism when it happens, we’re complacent in it. We’re accepting it, and we should never accept that.

I’ll go back to the song from Pink Floyd, The Gunner’s Dream:

You can relax on both sides of the tracks

And maniacs don’t go blow holes in bandsmen by remote control ...

And no one kills the children anymore....

We’re in a time where we should be celebrating all of the good things that have gone on. We’re in a time where we shouldn’t have to be talking about terrorist activity, but unfortunately we are. We have people who are members of provincial Parliament who are defending those actions. That is indefensible.

We must stand with resolve. We must condemn Hamas. We must condemn terrorism, and all of us must stand with Israel.

Stretching.

Further debate?

I want to thank my colleague from Peterborough South-Kawartha—

It’s interesting, because as I was thinking about what I was going to be saying today, our theme was going to be very, very similar. As many of you know, my father was a World War II veteran. He was never there when they liberated the Jews from places like Auschwitz or Treblinka—that was the work of other soldiers—but he never lost sight or appreciation of the atrocities that the Jewish people were subjected to.

Of course, subsequent to the Second World War, the free world rightfully decided that a religion, a race, a people that had experienced more discrimination and oppression than any other group in history must have a homeland, so a decision was made to provide them with that homeland, Israel, where they had been for millennia—the Holy Land. And ever since then, there has been a conflict over that decision, so ever since then, the Jews in Israel have rightfully felt that they have been surrounded by hostiles, that they must do everything they can to defend the only homeland they have.

Jews were dispersed in many countries before that, but they were discriminated against in all of them, some not as much as others—obviously Germany, when Hitler took over and became the Führer, the ruler, in such an inhuman way that the rest of the world could not help but notice and could not help but do something about it.

So Israel was established. Unlike my colleague from Peterborough–Kawartha, I was around for the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War, and I remember—you know, my dad didn’t talk about many of these things. But on the Six-Day War—I was 10 years old—he talked a little bit about how difficult life always has been for the Jews and how they’ve always been so unfairly treated and maligned throughout the world, yet they continued to forge forward and prosper, because they were a determined people that would not take that as a fatal setback. They just kept doing their best for their people.

As my colleague said, throughout all that time, there has always been this feeling of not if it will happen, but when it will happen. I’ve given my colleague here from Eglinton–Lawrence a copy of this, but in a speech that my father made in 1977 to a Pentecostal church—I happen to have a copy of it; those things weren’t usually recorded then. But he talked about how fortunate we are in Canada, that we’ve never had war on our land—and before anybody corrects me, we weren’t Canada in 1812 to 1814. We’ve had disagreements and we’ve had skirmishes, but we have been spared. And even speaking of a man who was in the theatre of war overseas—how some parts of the world had experienced war multiple times in that last century and how we are so blessed in this country that we have never experienced that.

So as my colleague said, when we go to bed at night, we go to bed at night knowing that unless the good Lord calls us some other way, we will not be rising in the morning to the sounds of sirens or a bombardment of rockets from a terrorist group. We will rise the next morning safely and go about our daily business. That is not the case in Israel. It’s never the case, because if it isn’t today, it might be some other day.

On October 7, when the terrorist attack took place, thousands of rockets raining down on the people of Israel—completely innocent men, women, children and babies attacked intentionally by a terrorist group. This is not something where—we’re not talking about collateral damage or anything else. They crossed that border and they went in there determined to kill Jews. That was their motivation, because that’s what they believe: that the only endgame for them is the annihilation of Israel and the annihilation of the Jew. They must be destroyed. This is what they believe, and this is what they strive for every day. And when they’re not involved in a terrorist attack, they’re getting ready for a terrorist attack. This is what they believe. This is what keeps them going. Their only motivation is to destroy the Jew.

So on October 7, it was manifested in the most egregious, heinous attack you could possibly envision. More Jews were killed that day than in any other time since the Holocaust. Put that into perspective. In all of the things that have been happening, because there’s always been unrest—since the end of the Second World War and since Israel was established, there has always been unrest in the Middle East. It goes through some periods where it simmers down and things like that, but the reality is that it has never gone away.

I believe one of the world’s failures—and it’s because we continuously hope that something might change—has been to allow terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah to continue to exist, because they’re there for one reason. We’ve allowed it to happen because we’re hoping against hope that if we just say, “Okay, back off now,” and maybe things will get better. They never have, and we know in our heart of hearts that they never will as long as groups exist where their only reason for being is to destroy another group of people.

We’ve failed repeatedly to deal with these terrorist organizations. So now they were able to build up some armaments and be in a position where they thought they could level a serious blow to Israel—and they did—a massive terrorist attack that destroyed so many innocent lives.

Now we’re asked, by some, to now condemn Israel for defending itself. We’re now asked to condemn Israel, who—there’s not another neighbour in the area that they can join up with. They’re alone. That’s why the Americans and other countries have said, “We will stand with Israel,” because they know that otherwise they stand alone. But now we’re being asked to just say, “Okay, Israel, that’s enough.” But Hamas is right there.

I say—and I know there will be those that vehemently disagree with me, and that’s fine. The blood of every Palestinian that has suffered death—and that is terrible, but the blood of every Palestinian is on the hands of Hamas, not Israel. Israel is doing what it must do to defend itself. Hamas has no morals. There are no rules. You use children and vulnerable people as human shields.

By the way, I digress for a moment, but I was very disappointed this morning when the chief whip of the opposition, who obviously just takes their information from Hamas, said the hospital was bombed by Israelis. Well, we know—and she knew at that time—that US intelligence has shown clearly that it was done by another terrorist group.

“Deadly Blast Provokes Anger in Middle East and Complicates Biden’s Visit

“The US has collected signals intelligence showing that the explosion at a Gaza hospital compound on Tuesday was caused by the militant group Palestine Islamic Jihad, US officials said, buttressing Israel’s contention that it wasn’t responsible for the blast. The US assessment drew in part on communications intercepts and other intelligence gathered by the US, defence officials said.”

So not only do Hamas use their own citizens as human shields, they also will blame the casualties on Israel. But you see, in all of these buildings, Israel can tell where the rockets come from. Hamas masks the rockets in populated areas among the Palestinian civilians—the citizens—and I guess Israel is just supposed to say, “Well, I guess we can’t defend ourselves because of this, so we’ll just wait for the next rocket attacks coming from Gaza. We’ll just lie down and lay down our weapons and say, ‘Oh, boy, I hope we are able to intercept the next attack on us.’” No, Israel is going to act as it always has to defend itself and defend its unalienable right to do so.

So, Speaker, what is the answer, then? I mean, I may be pretty simplistic at times, and I’ll accept that assessment. If Hamas really cared about its own citizens in Palestine, when Israel said, “Turn over the hostages and the rockets will stop”—no, Hamas would rather hold the hostages whether they live or die, and how many Palestinians die as a result matters nothing to them. They have no regard for life, whether it’s in Israel, Palestine, Lebanon or anywhere else—they have no regard for life. But Israel is doing what it feels it must do to protect their lives.

Where do you go, then? Where do you go to stop the carnage? Well, it has to start with Hamas. Hamas initiated the terrorist attacks, beheadings, rapes—just absolutely sickening actions, inhumane actions below any level of human degradation you could ever think of. There is no apology from Hamas. In fact, they videotaped and livestreamed for the world to see the atrocities they were committing against the Jewish people. Apologize? They’re proud of it; they’re proud of it. For them, it’s like keeping score: “Hey, I killed 25 Jews today. I beat your 23.” It’s so sickening it’s beyond comprehension. But this is what you’re dealing with, with a terrorist organization.

Of course, we have another motion on the table as well to censure the member from Hamilton Centre, but it’s as much to censure—or not censure, but to chide the leader of the NDP. I can tell you this much: If a member of this caucus was told by the Premier to withdraw a statement that was as hate-filled as the one from the member from Hamilton Centre and chose to put up some insincere, fake apology but not take down the statement that caused the problem in the first place, I have absolutely no doubt that they would not sit as a member of this caucus for one single day longer.

So I say to the leader of the NDP: This is on you, too, because you told your member to withdraw it. They thumbed their nose right at you and said, “No, I won’t do it,” and now you’re the one backing off. The shame is on you as well. We’ll have time to debate that motion in greater detail at a later hour, perhaps even later today. I’m not sure what the House leader has in store.

But, again, it is painful for someone who has, quite frankly, in this country—I’m not alone. I’m not singling myself out, but I’ve lived a charmed life: so protected, so secure, so unafraid to be who I am. Even in this country, if I had been raised a Jew, I would not feel as secure because, even in this country, we see the anti-Semitism manifested every single day. We see it on our university campuses. That is so troubling because—listen, I’m not going to be here much longer. Hell, I might not be around, period, much longer. Who knows? Who knows? But the next generation of people in our schools—when we have groups on university campuses trying to foster anti-Semitism and hate for the Jew as their daily mission in life, and calling intifada—is that what it’s called?

Peterborough–Kawartha.

Yes, intifada—calling for it on our university campuses, what does that say about how safe it’s going to be in this country?

We have to do every single thing we possibly can to combat that kind of hate. It applies to Islamophobia as well, but, today, the issue is the hatred of the Jew and Israel. Hatred for anyone is absolutely unacceptable, but when we allow university student associations to perpetrate that kind of sickening desire to kill—that’s what they’re saying on those campuses. How does a Jewish student feel safe at York University today? And that’s just one of them.

And there is no moral equivalency. I’ve heard that from the other side too much. There is no moral equivalency. If you want a safer place for everyone, today you have to start with stomping down the anti-Semitism that is like a cancer right here in Canada and in this city and in the province of Ontario. We must stand firmly against hate of all kinds—all kinds. But today, we have the opportunity to unanimously stand up against hate for Israel and the Jewish people.

Intifada.

Further debate? The member from Kitchener–Conestoga.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker, for recognizing me for debate on this motion. I quickly want to read through the motion and then get into a little bit of my deliberations here. I’m just going to read the motion here:

“That this House condemn the ongoing and reprehensible attacks being carried out by the terrorist organization Hamas, including the slaughter, rape and kidnapping of innocent Israeli civilians, including babies, children and seniors, and recognize the inalienable right of the State of Israel to defend itself and its people against this horrific violence.”

Over the last couple of days, I’ve been thinking about what I wanted to talk about this afternoon. I’ve had a chance to visit Israel twice; it’s a beautiful country. It’s really neat to be able to see how the interplay between so many faiths can come together in one place—obviously, a lot of that coalescing around Jerusalem. I know there are some other colleagues here who have had a chance to visit Israel as well, and I know they probably had as much admiration for the country as I do.

It reminded me of something that happened about three or four years ago. I think it was about a year after we had taken government in 2018, pre-pandemic. I was meeting with a group of individuals from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, better known as CIJA. We were speaking in a boardroom with about four or five members, and we were just talking about some of the different challenges that Jewish people face here in Canada and some of the backstory, the history, and where CIJA thought things were moving as we went forward.

We were having a great, very open dialogue and discussion, and I asked them a very poignant question. I didn’t mean it in a derogatory way, but I thought it was something that—you know, we were in kind of a safe place to be able to ask this question, and the question that I asked, that I posed to this group was, “Do you think that sometimes CIJA and Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center and some of the different organizations that we see here in Canada are out there too much talking about anti-Semitism? Are they really being that proverbial squeaky wheel?” The response to me was, “Mike, we don’t ever, ever, ever want anybody to forget the atrocities that happened during World War II, where over six million Jews were systematically exterminated during the Holocaust.” I thought, “Okay, well, sure, that’s a valid point. I don’t see something like that ever happening again in the future.” But here we are today, talking about this very issue, where just a short couple of weeks ago, we’ve seen a terrorist group that was formed in 1988—this isn’t all that long ago—known as Hamas, that has now perpetrated the second-largest killing of Jewish people, outside of the Holocaust.

It struck me to think, “Well, you know, maybe these guys are being a little bit over the top with what they’re doing,” but, clearly, they had a little bit of foresight to think that just because things have calmed down in the region or that people are much more educated about these types of issues, that they still couldn’t happen today. I thought that would be an interesting thing to open up today’s debate with, or at least on my end of today’s debate, because I think it really hits home what a lot of these organizations are trying to do.

When we saw what happened during World War II, starting in the late 1930s and into the early 1940s of people being rounded up and sent into areas and identified—the member for Peterborough–Kawartha was talking about the book that he read about the tattoo artist who was putting those tattoos on people to say that they were Jewish and their number is what would be displayed in the ghetto so they couldn’t leave and come back and forth freely like other citizens were able to do. It’s a bit sad.

We talk about the indiscriminate killing and rape and slaughter of innocent people in Israel. And these aren’t just Jewish people; these are people of Palestinian and Arab origin. These are Christians. They’re people who have left these other areas of strife where they’re often being held down by oppressive regimes and have moved to Israel because they want to have an opportunity at a better life for their family, their kids, their grandchildren.

I haven’t really heard that brought up in the conversation yet, and I think it’s really important to note that Israel is not just made up of people from Judaic origin. This is an area where, for thousands and thousands of years, you’ve had people of different ethnic groups, different races, different faiths coming together and being able to celebrate one another in that space.

When I had toured through Israel back in the early 2000s, I had a really great opportunity to go there with my father, obviously former Premier Harris, as an Ontario company was actually building the Cross Israel Highway, which was pretty neat. So we got to tour the country; we got to look around. It’s not a very big country, so it is fairly easy to navigate. But it was really neat to go through Jerusalem. I know the member for Essex hopefully will get a little bit of a chance to speak about some of the things that he saw while he spent three months in Israel. I was there for about a week, and it was really neat to be able to go through Jerusalem and see all the different quarters and how everybody interacted together and how there wasn’t animosity toward each other. Everybody truly was able to get along.

But when you mix in organizations like Hamas, and I’ll quote from their founding document, who are there to “obliterate Israel”—that is their sole mission. I thought the member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke was quite eloquent when he spoke about that, because that is their sole mission. Their sole mission is to destroy the lives of Israelis, but I think that’s, again, what’s lost in this conversation. It’s not just the Jewish people who are being persecuted by Hamas, it’s anybody that lives within Israel.

I’m very hopeful that members of the opposition are listening to this and are hearing what we have to say on this side of the House. I’m sure many of them feel the same way, that they want to see peace, that they want to see everybody being able to raise their families, work on their farms, be able to enjoy music festivals, for example—we’ve heard about that today, Madam Speaker—without having to look over their shoulder any time they wake up in the morning or any time they go out of the house.

As Canadians, as someone who maybe doesn’t really understand what war in perpetuity could mean, I think it’s important that we educate ourselves and that we understand what is currently happening in the Middle East and the interplay, not only between the Hamas regime and Israel but some of the other actors that surround them, and how the Canadian government can play a role, how the US government can play a role and of course other governments around the world. I just want to quickly touch on a few pieces here.

The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States have reiterated their support for Israel. I believe actually President Biden is heading to Israel; I think it’s today or tomorrow—

Interjection.

I like to talk about, when we’re doing trade missions or overseas or taking part in conferences, how Toronto and our government here in our provincial capital is the fifth most powerful seat of government in North America. I think we have a true opportunity to lead when it comes to how we view what’s happening and the statements that we put out as parliamentarians, and to make sure that we are truly putting our best foot forward. If the Canadian government is going to be slow to act, we need to make sure and it’s incumbent on us here in Ontario that we are the ones who can lead, we’re the ones who can rally Canadians, we’re the ones who can hold Hamas to account.

As I wrap up my remarks, I just want to thank everybody for the opportunity to have this debate. I think it’s very important. When we have these special motions that come before the Legislature, I know often they can be very impassioned and sometimes they can choke you up.

I just want to leave everyone with this: We all know I have five kids—that’s no secret. One of the reasons that I got involved in politics is because I want to leave Ontario and Canada a better place for my kids to be able to raise their children, my grandchildren, and I know that the people of Israel want the same. That’s why Israel was created back in the 1950s, to allow people in the Middle East, in that region—to afford them the same kind of ability that we have here in Canada, where we have a peaceful democracy that wants the best for the people of their country.

So I hope everyone will support this motion. I hope everyone will condemn the terrorist organization known as Hamas. And I hope that in another four years we’re not up here having this same debate again.

To stand in this chamber today, to speak to the horrific acts of terrorism that occurred only 11 days ago in Israel, is truly something I never thought I would be doing.

I like to think the best of mankind. I like to believe that we learn from the past, to ensure the atrocities of the past are never repeated, yet here I stand with my colleagues who have stood before me yesterday and today to speak to the inhumane actions of a terrorist group.

Eleven days ago, it was our Canadian Thanksgiving. We were all likely thinking about our meal preparations for the holiday, thinking about all the fixings and looking forward to the time we were going to spend with our families and friends, when we saw the breaking news headlines on all the news media outlets: Israeli civilians under attack by Hamas terrorists.

For our Jewish community members, I can only imagine what emotions overwhelmed them, especially the thought of loved ones in Israel, and then to think of their own safety right here in our country. Why? Why would they have to think like that? The footage that started coming across our TV screens, unceasing displays of horrors. Some of it came from Hamas body cameras and videos posted by Hamas militants to social media, and later verified by Israel. Some was taken by civilians as they tried to escape, some by first responders. It showed bodies of people who had been bound; a room with at least seven bodies reduced to ash; civilians shot in bedrooms, bathrooms, front yards. The bloodshed is just overwhelming. I had to look away. To think of the intent with this act—the militants were well prepared. In the videos, it showed some dressed in army fatigues to look like Israeli soldiers. Others were dressed like police officers. Who commits such premediated horrific acts of terrorism?

On October 15, a group of over 100 international law experts issued a statement assessing that the Hamas terror group committed multiple war crimes in a massive assault on Israel and that its actions in slaughtering 1,300 people likely amounted to genocide. “These acts constitute gross violation of international law, and, in particular, of international criminal law,” declared the document, signed by academic figures and legal authorities in Israel and abroad. “Videos, released mostly by Hamas, posted on social media, document acts of torture, sexual violence, violence towards children and molestation of bodies,” the document specified. Among those who signed the document was Professor Irwin Cotler, a former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.

On October 7, Thanksgiving weekend, we bore witness to a bloody assault, which came alongside a widespread barrage of 5,000 rockets fired indiscriminately at towns and cities across Israel. As noted, it resulted in the death of more than 1,300 people, the vast majority of them civilians, including six Canadians. Thousands more were injured, hundreds of them seriously.

As my colleague from Thornhill noted yesterday afternoon, Israel is not that far away, and it is not. On October 9, the strong and brave Jewish Canadian community in the GTA, organized by the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, managed to bring people together for a rally for Israel. And bring people together they certainly did, with a reported 15,000 people in attendance.

I stood on the Mel Lastman stage in North York alongside Premier Ford and 15 of my colleagues at the rally for Israel. I was personally overwhelmed by the thousands of people who were there to support the Jewish community in the face of the terrorist attacks that took place. We watched a video of the people in Israel and heard directly from them as to what was happening. It was surreal, and yet the reality of this massacre become ever so overwhelming.

I go back to my days of learning about the Holocaust at school and of my visit to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. I’m receiving a real history lesson of what took place in the world—how Jewish people had to hide from Nazi persecution. And here we are again.

I also think about the time I was in Pearl Harbor, visiting the museum there. It was so overwhelmingly sad. My mom and I were there together. My dad couldn’t come, because he remembers those days. He said no, he can’t go to a place where there was that much death. But my mom and I went. I remember crying.

I also think about how I felt that morning of September 11, 2001, when the planes hit the World Trade Center twin towers in New York—the hate of a terrorist group.

There is a common denominator here: hate. Hate is the devil’s breeding ground, and we have no use for hate towards anybody, especially in Canada. Racism, hate and discrimination have no place in this great province of Ontario. The safety of all communities has and remains of the utmost importance.

I condemn—and our government condemns—Hamas’s heinous acts on the people of Israel. Israel must defend itself against such acts of terror. The tragic loss of life and the terror invoked among the men, women, families and children in Israel is beyond words. We can only imagine the emotional trauma and pain that thread itself through Israel over these past 11 days. Now more than ever, Ontario stands firm in its support of Israel and in solidarity with the Jewish communities across the province who are heartbroken and horrified by this senseless act of terror. Our government will continue to work with the Israeli Canadian community to create a stronger, safer and more inclusive province, where people from all walks of life can call it home and feel safe and respected.

After attending the rally for Israel, when I was in my community last week, I had a few local Jewish constituents tell me that they watched the rally on TV, on the news. They saw me, and they so appreciated the support of our government and thanked me for being there with Premier Ford. They also said to me that they did not want to go to the rally because they were afraid. No one in this province should be afraid to go out and support one another in such a time of crisis.

This past Sunday evening, when I took part in the challah for Israel women’s prayer vigil. After all the women arrived, it was a purposeful move to lock the doors of the centre for safety purposes. That brought to light how the Jewish people feel—that fear, security, the potential for someone to come in to hurt these women. It made me think of what happened on October 7, when Hamas went into homes and slaughtered women and children. This reiterated to me that as politicians, we have the responsibility to ensure our community members feel safe, to feel that they can count on us to take a stand when we see acts of terror and to stand against terrorists and such brutal, savage, inhumane acts. They count on us to stand up against anti-Semitism. They count on us to stand up against hatred acts.

This is why I support motion 38: “That this House condemn the ongoing and reprehensible attacks being carried out by the terrorist organization Hamas, including the slaughter, rape and kidnapping of innocent Israeli civilians, including babies, children and seniors, and recognize the inalienable right of the State of Israel to defend itself and its people against this horrific violence.”

Madam Speaker, I’d like to just correct what I said there. It’s actually motion 18. I believe I said 38—my apologies.

I go back to my member’s statement earlier today. I think about being there with the local Jewish women, kneading the challah. As we were doing that, we were saying prayers. I was very honoured to be able to say a prayer with the ladies. I was honoured to hear them pray in Hebrew. I thought it was phenomenal when the dough actually rose. It was my first time making bread.

But there was all kinds of symbolism with what we were doing and the braiding of the challah: The symbolism of hope, the symbolism that they can be strong and that we can be strong together.

After we were finished with our prayers and had our bread braided, I had a few ladies come up to me, and they spoke to me about some of their concerns. I listened to them. One of the concerns was related to the schools, how silence was deafening. I spoke to them about how our government supports our Jewish community: We support them in schools; we support them in the community. We stand with the Israeli people. We stand with our Jewish communities.

Madam Speaker, I pray for a peaceable outcome for all people. As I noted earlier today, and I will reiterate, for all those innocent souls lost during this senseless attack, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Further debate?