Speech by the Rt. Hon. Joe Clark on the Opposition day motion on Terrorism (bilingual)
Notes for a speech by the Rt. Hon. Joe Clark, P.C., C.C., M.P., on an Opposition day motion on Terrorism in the House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario Monday, October 15, 2001 Just five weeks ago, we Canadians lived in a world which felt much safer and more secure than it does today. The terrorist attacks of September 11 literally changed our lives forever. Ces attaques se sont produites en sol américain, mais elles ont entraîné la mort de canadiens et canadiennes. Ces assauts contre la liberté et l’ordre, valeurs auxquelles adhèrent les canadiens, ont mis fin à un sentiment illusoire d’invulnérabilité qui était peut?être plus ancré ici que chez notre superpuissant voisin. Cette attaque était donc dirigée également contre nous, contre ce que nous sommes et ce en quoi nous croyons. Il est de notre devoir de réagir, non par esprit de vengeance, mais dans le but de protéger nos communautés, de réconforter et d’aider nos amis pour qui tout sentiment de sécurité a volé en éclats et de tout faire pour empêcher la répétition de tels actes terroristes. Those attacks were on American soil. But they took Canadian lives. They were targeted at Canadian values of freedom and order. And they have ended an illusion of invulnerability that might have been stronger here than in the superpower next door. So this was an attack on us too. They were attacks on who we are, and what we believe. And we have a duty to respond, not in vengeance, but to protect the communities where we live, to offer comfort and help to friends whose own sense of security has been torn asunder, and to take every reasonable step to prevent these terrorists from succeeding again. I commend the Canadian government for now playing a more active role, including a military role, in the common front and common fight against terrorism. This motion has three purposes. First, we will vote today to reaffirm our condemnation of this terrorist attack. Second, we will vote to affirm our support of the courageous men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces who will be joining the international military coalition to fight terrorism, and defend free and orderly societies. Third, we will vote to order the Standing Committees on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and National Defence and Veterans Affairs, to meet jointly and frequently to hear and examine ministers and officials of the government. September eleventh is a turning point in all our lives. The cruel losses, the grotesque images, the fear, the anger, the sleeplessness, the helplessness, the look in the faces of children who comprehend this anxiety better than we may think, and wonder when their lives can be normal again. This is Canada today. It is a country alert to a profound threat, consumed by an unaccustomed fear and sadness. This is a country that doesn’t often ask for leadership, but wants leadership now. All of us in this House share responsibility for that leadership. That is leadership in the short term - in playing Canada’s full and unequivocal part in the common front against terrorism. And leadership in the longer term - in ensuring that Canada has the military strength to meet our responsibilities - in ensuring that our intelligence services are strong enough, in concert with our allies, to not be taken by surprise again - and in assuming again Canada’s leading role in international development. As my colleague from Saint John will argue, we have let our military capacity run down dangerously. And now we are paying a price. Mr. Speaker, if public opinion is against military spending, we need to change public opinion. In my view, working for peace, but planning to fight when necessary is decidedly better than planning for peace, and hoping that others will defend us. If the United States had shirked their military responsibilities the way we have tiptoed around ours, no one wants to imagine what kind of situation we would be facing today. But let us be clear about our immediate obligation. It is to find, and fight, and seek to stop, the September 11th terrorists. The country, Afghanistan, is not the target here. Certainly, the ravaged people of Afghanistan are not the target - that is why military strikes and humanitarian aid are being sent simultaneously. The target is the terrorists whom the Taliban regime cultivate and protect. The purpose is to cause the Taliban to surrender the terrorists. The first attempts were diplomatic. That is why the coalition was so carefully built. That is why Prime minister Blair was in Pakistan, playing the last diplomatic card. We all knew that the only argument that might persuade the Taliban was the threat of force. And you do not threaten force unless you intend to use it. >From the public statements of Al-Quaeda we can only assume that the terrorists plan future attacks, perhaps again against the men and women and children who live in North America. The government of Canada would know, because it has access to intelligence assessments of this question, assessments which the prime minister has refused to share with this house or with Canadians. But other governments have been more open with their assessments of the threat we face, and they believe it is real. I have always argued that one of the distinguishing assets of Canada in world affairs is a moral authority. And if we have a moral authority, we must use it or lose it. In these circumstances, our language and our actions must be strong, clear, unequivocal. There is no moral justification for the statements and actions of the Al-Quaeda network and Osama bin Laden. I have been to refugee camps, in the Middle East, and in Peshawar. And I have been to ground zero in New York. The horror of one does not justify the horror of the other. No serious student of the modern world would dispute that poverty and desperation and envy are spawning grounds of terrorism. And there can be no doubt at all that Canada and other democracies have let our commitment to international development and justice falter. And that commitment must be renewed, in the interest of populations who suffer, and in our own interest. But let us not confuse the conditions which spawn terrorism with the cynical, calculated, cold-blooded and deadly determination of an Osama bin Laden to exploit those conditions. These terrorists are professional, well-trained, well-funded killers. And if you ask who they are, that is clear. They are terrorists. Spreading fear and terror is their motivation. Terrorism is their religion, their only real religion. On September eleventh, Osama bin Laden and his followers killed Muslims, Christians, and Jews, men, women, children. He killed rich people and poor people. He asked for nothing, made no demands, put forward no agenda, accepted no responsibility. He -- and the killers he recruited and shaped -- deserve scorn, not understanding. No one in this House, or in this country, should confuse the conditions which might nurture terrorism with the cold-blooded criminal intent to exploit those conditions. Of course the world must address those conditions of poverty and desperation. But the urgent task now is to catch and stop the criminals, whose weapon is reckless terror. That is why it is right and necessary for Canada to play a full and active military role now. This motion also calls upon the government to keep Parliament and Canadians informed about this crisis in the same way that Parliament and Canadians were informed during the Gulf war. We propose the same procedure that members of the government argued for, and used constructively, during that crisis. At other times, I will argue that the government has a general obligation to inform and involve Canadians. What I want to argue today is that informing and involving Canadians is an opportunity to enlarge the contribution this country and its citizens can make to the campaign against terrorism. Parliamentarians, and private citizens, who have to plan responses to these attacks, need the most basic information about the government’s analysis of the threat. I understand fully the need for confidentiality on sensitive matters. Sir, my diplomats moved hostages out of Iran. I briefed this House, and its Committees, fully, during the Gulf war. What is at issue here is not a matter of national security. It is about the practical value of facts - the advantage of information in helping to mobilize, and to reassure, a free society. The reassurance is important. Ordinary Canadians are more concerned about their safety, and their children’s safety, than they have been in decades. Each new report of anthrax, or of crop-dusters, or of Osama bin Laden’s latest threats, increases that anxiety. Ignorance feeds fear. Secrecy feeds fear. Facts fight fear. One reason to tell Canadians the truth is that it will help offset the worries that secrecy inspires. But another powerful reason is that getting the facts out will help mobilize the information and the insights of Canadians outside government, who know things the government does not know. All Canadians want to help. Some Canadians might know things, they might have heard things that could be useful to the government. Information is key to fighting this type of sophisticated terrorism. Osama bin Laden did not plan his attacks on a computer, nor communicate by internet. These plots began, quite literally, in some obscure corner of a world which most Canadians do not know. And our security services do not know them well enough. They have not kept up to date, in Canada or among our allies. En revanche, il y a des canadiens et canadiennes qui travaillent dans ces coins du globe et qui connaissent la langue, la culture et les angoisses des habitants. À cette fin, le gouvernement devrait d’abord accepter de partager davantage l’information qu’il détient avec le parlement et les canadiens et canadiennes. Monsieur le président, nous voulons tous dire aux canadiens que nous sortirons bientôt de cette période de colère, de chagrin et de peur. Nous voulons leur dire que le Canada n’est pas directement menacé. Nous voulons leur dire que le reste du monde nous protégera de tout danger. Mais ces assurances ne seraient ni vraies, ni sûres. Ce qui est certain c’est qu’il nous faut apporter des changements à notre vie publique et à notre vie politique. Nous, les politiciens, devons être plus vigilants. Nous devons mettre à l’épreuve le statu quo. Nous devons façonner l’opinion publique plutôt que d’essayer de nous la mettre à dos. But there are other Canadians who work in those corners of the world, and know their languages and cultures and anxieties. We should mobilize their knowledge, and the way for the government to start is to share more of what it knows, with Parliament and with Canadians. Mr. Speaker, we would all like to say to Canadians that we will soon emerge from this period of anger, sorrow and fear. We would like to tell them that Canada faces no direct threat, or that the rest of the world will protect us from harm. But none of that is true or certain. What is certain is that our public life, our political life must change. We in politics must be more vigilant, must challenge the status quo, must shape opinion rather than simply trying not to run afoul of it. We must present a more coherent view of the world and Canada’s role in it. We must build support for our views, argue strenuously against views we think are wrong headed. We must defend the Islamic faith against prejudice and attack, and recognize that its worst enemy right now is the Al-Queda network. And in a time when that country has the courage to lead, we must stand beside the United States of America, support her people, work with her government, share her risks, and join in the responsibility to limit the suffering of the innocent Afghani people. To do less, or to do differently, at this moment in time, would be to dishonor the tradition of Canada with which we have been entrusted. 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