In this episode, we discuss the chemical weapons attack on civilians in Syria and what the Canadian government has to do about it. We also talk about the impact on Canadian troops stationed in the region and what they should do in response.
00:00:00.000You're listening to The Blueprint, Canada's Conservative Podcast.
00:00:09.000Well, they thought they were going to have an easy day over there today, but not so fast, Mr. Speaker.
00:00:16.640What is it going to take for the Prime Minister to have any respect for any laws in this country that may curb his out-of-control behaviour?
00:00:25.320And now, here's your host, Tony Clement.
00:00:31.140And we're back on Blueprint, Canada's Conservative Podcast.
00:00:37.020I want to talk about another issue that's very topical in the news, and that's the situation in Syria after the chemical attacks that were initiated by Assad and his regime,
00:00:47.220and then the U.S. missile strike that occurred a few days later.
00:00:50.940Of course, this Syria has been in the news for years now with the civil war, meaning that hundreds of thousands of people have been killed.
00:00:58.580It's just a terrible situation, a terrible human rights tragedy, as well as a geopolitical mess,
00:01:03.840because you've got all these interests that are preying in there, of course, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia,
00:01:11.620and, of course, the growth of ISIS in Syrian territory.
00:01:15.200We've seen in the past warnings issued to Bashir Assad to not use chemical weapons.
00:01:23.220Unfortunately, he again ignored that warning and just a few days ago launched a chemical attack on his own people using the nerve gas sarin.
00:01:34.660When that occurred, the U.S. government reacted with the missile strike involving 59 Tomahawk missiles.
00:01:41.740And I want to tell you what the Conservative Party of Canada position is as an initial conversation starter on this.
00:01:48.700We did support, we strongly supported the efforts of the United States to prevent Syria's military from launching further chemical weapon attacks.
00:01:59.180It's very clear that the way Assad's mind works, if he gets away with something, he does it over and over again.
00:02:04.980And that, of course, would create a war crime.
00:02:07.860Use of chemical weapons is considered a war crime.
00:02:10.200It has been so since the First World War.
00:02:12.940And the global community cannot sit idly by when these deadly nerve toxins are being deployed and unleashed on innocent civilians.
00:02:26.340Unfortunately, we are not really sure from day to day what the Prime Minister of Canada's position is.
00:02:30.740Justin Trudeau, when first confronted with the evidence of the sarin attack by the Syrian government, claimed that there wasn't enough evidence to make a decision as to whether Syria was responsible for the attack.
00:02:44.420When that evidence was forthcoming, then he kind of scuttled away for a while.
00:02:50.960Donald Trump and the U.S. government reacted.
00:02:53.380And we weren't sure for a period of about 48 hours exactly what the position of the Canadian government was.
00:02:59.120Eventually, he came out in support of Donald Trump's use of Tomahawk missiles to disable the airport from which these attacks originated.
00:04:38.720And I think in that sense, it was the most appropriate response.
00:04:42.960So we'll see what happens in the future.
00:04:44.600But when it comes to articulating an interest for human rights, for making sure that we're safe from terrorism, Canada's conservatives are on the side of certainly working with our allies to reduce the terrorism that emanates from the region.
00:05:02.940And at the same time, have a clear path to a change of government in Syria so that the civil war doesn't go on and on and on for years more, affecting more hundreds of thousands or millions of people.