It gets worse, because I find nothing in here at all about the overseas development budget, nothing. We know it was cut by over $670 million in the last two years. Is it frozen? Is it going up? Is it going down? Where are we on humanitarian assistance?

Christian Paradis: Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we have been at the forefront in the Middle East in terms of humanitarian assistance. Only last year humanitarian assistance increased 62% compared to the year before. Canadians expect us to deliver aid in an accountable way that is effective for people in need, and this is exactly what we are doing.

On top of that, the budget creates the development finance initiative that will help to put more investment money into developing countries helping them to create and sustain economic growth.

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I do not so much have a question, but as the minutes draw down on this debate, I would reinforce what we all know, that this situation is desperate and tragic, a humanitarian crisis, that it worsens by the minute, and that signs of hope for a peaceful solution are few and far between. We also had one of those earlier today in the commitments made by Mr. Putin and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

I certainly urge all colleagues, though I do not think I need to as we all feel the same way, not to let this crisis slip from our awareness and to find ways as a nation united to help people who are caught in this conflict, particularly the women and children. All Syrians in Syria and in the refugee camps need our help. I agree with the member for Scarborough—Agincourt completely that the Syrian community here in Canada should be engaged to try to find ways to help the people currently suffering.

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When he speaks of presentations this evening that were thoughtful and calming, I must say his was one. It was thoughtful and it took into account what we all feel, that we must not be imagining for one moment that Canada wants to engage militarily in Syria. It is nice to reaffirm that there is consensus in this place on that. I also appreciate his recognition of the toolkit of statecraft and diplomacy of the United Nations, and our other relationships.

I would ask him very specifically if it would not make sense for us in this House to agree by consensus that there is more we can do in humanitarian effort, particularly in those very significant humanitarian crises that exist in refugee camps in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, by providing more assistance directly through humanitarian relief in the camps and by offering that assistance to those governments that are hosting all those refugees.

Erin O’Toole: Mr. Chair, I thank the leader of the Green Party for her nice remarks in welcoming me. Certainly we have shared some time at Dalhousie Law School together, although not at the same time.

Her questions are good ones. We are working with other states in the region to address the refugee crisis caused by the Syrian civil war in the last two years. Members on this side have expressed that we need to do more and to particularly watch how that evolves.

There is also security ramifications caused by a refugee exodus under these circumstances. Importantly, I have also heard some discussion in the chamber tonight about NGOs and actions by non-state actors on the ground in Syria, and I think we have to express some words of caution.

We are not even at the halfway point in 2013. I would remind this House that Syria is in a state of war, and as I said in my remarks, with very hard to identify teams within that war. There is certainly a united front against a regime, and then there is the regime. There have been five journalists killed this year in Syria, and we are only days past Press Freedom Day. Last month, two archbishops were abducted. It is a country with which we have to proceed cautiously, even with non-state actors on the ground.

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For all its flaws, for all its failures, if we cannot get a multilateral solution with persistent pressure through the UN, through the Security Council, on Russia, on China and on those countries that have long-term relationships with Bashar al-Assad, we would not ourselves want to prop up someone like that, but now that the so-called rebel forces appear to be riddled with al Qaeda and we have the conflict spreading with potential destabilization with Israel’s rocket attack, we are in really serious trouble. Would he not agree with me that we need the United Nations as the primary vehicle for getting to political peacemaking solutions?

Wladyslaw Lizon: Mr. Speaker, Canada has been working with the members of the United Nations and with other countries. Of course, I agree we have to talk with Russia and China. We have to talk with everyone. Russia and China are not the only countries that Mr. al-Assad has good relations with, or historically speaking, has had relations with. For whatever reason, they seem to support him.

However, the democratic countries of this world should get together with the United Nations on bilateral agreements to make sure that everything that can be done is done to end the violence and the armed conflict. Continuing violence and fighting will not solve anything. War does not solve anything. It has to come to peace for a lasting solution to be achieved.

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In relation to the pressure to prevent oil revenue ending up funding terrorism in that region of the world, should our foreign policy extend to our trade policies with relation to the People’s Republic of China? What more could we be doing there?

Jinny Jogindera Sims: Mr. Speaker, I can remember a time when the Prime Minister made a comment to the effect that we would only have truck or trade with countries that had good human rights records.

Our government has a relationship with China. Whether it is on a trading issue, which it obviously is, in our speed to sell off our Canadian jobs overseas and risk huge environmental damage, we have that relationship. Is the government using it wisely to at least press the Chinese to press Assad to find a peaceful solution? We need to continue to use that tool. It is at our disposal.

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I am hearing reports from Syrians who are trying to get an appointment with the embassy in Lebanon, but the local staff, the guards around our embassy, treat them disrespectfully and do not let them get to the door. It is a conflict situation, and the other misconception is that the refugee camps are run by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. They are not; they are run by the host countries. Once people are there as refugees, they are still afraid. Some of them are so afraid that they are not prepared to go to the Red Crescent or the Red Cross to report in, so that they can be recorded.

It is a difficult situation. I am not saying it is easy, but we are not doing enough to reunite some of the people who still could be brought home to their families in Canada.

Costas Menegakis : Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for her question and her concern. It is always good to look internally and believe that we can be doing more. This is something on which we are very, very focused. It is a priority for us. We know we are dealing with real people here in very difficult situations. I can appreciate and attest to some of the comments that the hon. member made, but it is something that is, as I stated previously, of primary concern to our government and we are focusing on it on a full-time basis.

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I wonder if she has had any information on that or any further factual support for the risks that we undertook in Libya that actually fueled terrorism elsewhere?

Lois Brown: Mr. Speaker, we are concerned about what is going on in Syria and the disparate groups of people who seem to be active there. We are concerned about weapons coming in from places like Iran. We are concerned about the positions of both China and Russia. As we said earlier, it is very difficult to get the information from inside Syria because it is often difficult to get into parts of the country that are held by government or by the opposition parties and to get the truth. All members of the international community are finding it very difficult to get that information.

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What does she think needs to happen in order for all the countries in the world to find a political solution? Which country is most important? I think Russia and perhaps China are the most important. What does my colleague think?

Ève Péclet: Mr. Speaker, considering the nature of this crisis, the Syrian crisis, I think the support of the entire international community is important.

We all agree that this conflict is affecting more than just one country. It is starting to affect neighbouring countries. I think it is crucial that the Security Council and the United Nations combine their efforts.

Whether it is Russia, China or another country, Canada has a role to play. Canada has always been a neutral country that forged ahead. I think this is vital to diplomatic relations. Regardless of the country we choose to put pressure on, we need to come up with a solution for long-term peace, in co-operation with the UN.

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I am hearing from refugees from Syria in my own community that there are also systematic rapes of women occurring. I cannot verify this, but they are hearing from relatives that rapes are also occurring in the refugee camps, where people are also at risk.

What I would like to ask is whether we should be pushing as hard as possible for a peace process for bringing people to the table, bearing in mind that we would be getting involved in a military conflict where we are not sure which side we would want to see in power?

In that context, does the hon. member think there is some potential for pushing Russia to get Assad to the table for real negotiations with all the players to get to a ceasefire and a peace process?

Paul Dewar: Mr. Speaker, recent reports show there is the potential for an international conference. Secretary of State Kerry has just concluded meetings with his counterpart Lavrov, in Moscow, and we are hopeful that an international conference will happen.

It was also noted that there had not been, as there had been in the past, any adherence by Moscow as to what the status of Mr. Assad would be. I say that because this is a bit of a change from what the news reports. There might be other reports that we hear later. There is a sense right now that even Russia is getting concerned and fatigued with the situation in Syria.

What we must do is to be focused on what the member has underlined, that there has to be a political solution to this. Diplomacy should be ramped up and we should ensure that our friends in Russia get the message yet again that it has a role here. It has been supplying arms, everyone knows that, and if this continues, it will be even more culpable than it was before.

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Acknowledging that the government has increased financial contributions to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, what more can the government do? Is there a possibility of providing emergency assistance to those refugees with connections to Canada?

Right Hon. Stephen Harper: Mr. Speaker, we are obviously all deeply troubled by the humanitarian situation in Syria, which just gets progressively worse. We are not only worried about the situation in Syria, but, frankly, the wider instability that threatens the rest of the region. That is why, as the leader of the Green Party has noted, the government has brought forward some specific help to Syria and to some of its neighbours as well. We continue, through various agencies of the government and through working with our allies, to look at ways that we can help further.

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