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Garnett Genuis

Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
Conservative

Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan
Alberta
Voting Attendance: 67%
Expenses Last Quarter: $170,231.20

Government Page

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

Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Mar/18/24 5:06:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the Conservative shadow minister for international development, I want to reiterate that we are deeply concerned about the impact of this war on civilians, Palestinian and Israeli, and that we have been highlighting the critical importance of humanitarian access from the earliest days of the war. Conservatives also support a two-state solution, negotiated and agreed on by both Israelis and Palestinians, where each can exercise democratic self-determination in peace and security. Unlike the NDP, though, we do not believe rewarding bad actors, specifically funding bad actors, is going to lead to peace. In particular, Palestinians do not want to be under the thumb of Hamas. Durable peace and democratic self-determination for Palestinians is only possible through the defeat of Hamas and the delivery of support through organizations that do not incite violence. Does the member support calls for the complete disarmament of Hamas?

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Context: House Hansard - 232 - Oct/16/23

Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Oct/16/23 10:34:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time. I come to this debate tonight as a Christian, as the grandson of a Holocaust survivor and as someone with deep love for my many Muslim friends. The three great Abrahamic faiths have many points of unity. We share our commitment to the singular worship of one God, a belief in a moral framework that flows from the Ten Commandments, an appreciation for the role of reason in religious life and an attachment to the place we all call the Holy Land. In the midst of these tumultuous times, there are those who believe conflict between the Abrahamic faiths is inevitable, but I do not agree. Those who assert some inevitability of conflict lack both memory and imagination. They fail to recall centuries of fruitful co-operation between members of these faith communities, and they fail to perceive opportunities for a bright future. There is a bright star at the end of this dark tunnel. That star is one in which Israelis and Palestinians, Jews, Muslims, Christians and others live side by side in peaceful democratic pluralistic and prosperous states, a two-state solution in which each reflects the legitimate national aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians. Israel has established peaceful relations with many Muslim majority nations, most recently through the aptly named Abraham Accords, but disrupting these efforts at peace is the violent extremist and colonialist regime in Tehran. While more and more actors in the Middle East are moving toward peace, the Iranian regime is trying to be a spoiler, supporting and enabling many different terrorist organizations. Hamas terrorists, recognized as such by successive Canadian governments, have militarily conquered and have terrorized the people of the Gaza Strip for a decade and a half. Hamas has not sought to govern the Gaza Strip in any meaningful sense. Rather, they have sought to turn the Gaza Strip into a staging ground for terrorist operations into Israel. Hamas has shown capricious disregard not only for the lives of Israelis but also for the lives of Palestinian civilians living in Gaza. During the last round of fighting between Israel and Hamas, the foreign affairs committee heard that over 15% of the rockets launched by Hamas, intending to kill Israeli civilians, actually landed in Gaza on the heads of Palestinian civilians. The committee also heard at the time about how a vital humanitarian corridor into Gaza was closed after being subject to a Hamas mortar attack. I asked officials why Hamas would intentionally target a humanitarian crossing. Canadian government officials told the committee: In terms of the reason...obviously the intention and the pressure on all parties Hamas may not have wanted alleviated instantly, to keep the pressure on and keep sending the message. In other words, the testimony of this expert was that Hamas weaponizes the pain of the Palestinian people for their own twisted political ends. In the present context, I want to call for and underline the importance of humanitarian access. Palestinian civilians should be able to access the things required to meet basic humanitarian needs. There should be a corridor for bringing essential humanitarian supplies into Gaza, and there should be a secure safe zone area or areas for civilians to take shelter and access essential humanitarian goods. The international community should work together to establish this essential humanitarian access. Israel has a right to defend itself by targeting Hamas terrorists who have attacked it, and all steps should be taken to minimize harm to civilians. Hamas must be called out for how they intentionally, constantly, put Palestinian as well as Israeli civilians in harm’s way. The latest fighting began after Hamas launched a horrific terrorist attack, killing over 1,000 Israeli civilians in the most brutal ways imaginable and taking well over 100 hostages. This was the largest mass killing of Jews since the Holocaust. As the descendent of Holocaust survivors and the descendent of some who did not survive, this is deeply personal for me. There can be no equivocation about the horror of what happened or about the need to hold the killers responsible. No other country, after facing such an attack, would be expected to contemplate an immediate ceasefire without first securing freedom for hostages and bringing perpetrators to justice. I hope and pray that Israel's legitimate pursuit of its own security will lead to the least possible loss of human life in the short term but also in the long term. A long-term future of peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis is likely not possible until the tyrannical control of the Gaza strip by Hamas terrorists ends. Palestinian self-determination starts with Palestinians being able to choose who governs them and choosing a government within constitutional constraints that puts the well-being of the Palestinian people first. While more and more Muslim-majority nations are pursuing peace with Israel, the Iranian regime is enabling and using terrorist proxies to attack Israel and to undermine the sovereignty of other nations in the region. That is why I will continue to push this government to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization and shut down their operations here in Canada. That is why I will continue to support the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement. The success of the Iranian freedom movement would deprive terrorist groups throughout the region of material and strategic support. As those protesters say, “No solution but revolution”. I stand today with Israelis, Palestinians, Iranians and people of all faiths and backgrounds who desire three simple things: to live in freedom from tyranny and oppression, to protect their family and to practice their faith. This is the best of the Abrahamic faith traditions that we share, the commitment to freedom, family and faith that must unite us all.

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Context: House Hansard - 232 - Oct/16/23

Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Oct/16/23 9:35:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I know my hon. colleague is very sincere in her convictions on these matters. I wanted to pick up on the issue of the importance of establishing a humanitarian corridor and safe zones for the distribution of essential humanitarian assistance. Our party supports that and has called for that. I want to note that the last time there was conflict between Gaza and Israel, there was one instance that we heard about at the foreign affairs committee where Hamas intentionally targeted a humanitarian crossing point. I asked Canadian officials why Hamas would intentionally target a humanitarian crossing. Canadian officials at the time said: In terms of the reason...obviously the intention and the pressure on all parties Hamas may not have wanted alleviated instantly, to keep the pressure on and keep sending the message. I wonder if the member would agree that as vitally important as establishing these humanitarian corridors are, one of the challenges has been, historically, that Hamas has shown capricious disregard for the lives of Palestinians and has, in fact, used their pain and the prevention of access for humanitarian aid as a tool to try to exert more pressure on the international community.

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Garnett Genuis