I want to begin by moving for a further amendment to the further amendment. I respectfully ask, Speaker, that the amendment be amended by adding the words “the terrorist organization” before “Hamas.”

I am appalled by the statements made by the NDP member for Hamilton Centre, statements that seek to justify the murder, torture and rape of women, children and the elderly at the hands of Hamas terrorists. I join our government and our Premier, the Honourable Doug Ford, in calling for the leader of the official opposition to remove the member for Hamilton Centre from her caucus and to condemn her well-documented record of anti-Semitic statements as nothing less than unacceptable.

Ultimately, this is a stark reminder of the NDP’s disturbing history of anti-Semitism. So much so, Speaker, that in an article written by former NDP riding president Emma Cunningham in January of last year, we can clearly see that time and again, the NDP have vetted and recruited candidates to represent their party despite their recorded histories of anti-Semitism.

In 2015, NDP candidate Alex Johnstone admitted she had never heard of Auschwitz after being questioned for making mocking remarks on social media about photos of the concentration camp.

In 2018, the NDP nominated Tasleem Riaz, who had seemingly shared a pro-Hitler post on her public social media channels—something that the NDP vetting team appears to have forgotten to scan for.

And then, in 2020, NDP nominees accused Israel of stealing vaccines—and even had no idea that Auschwitz was a real place at one point.

And then there is former, of course, Ajax mayor from the region of Durham, Steve Parish, who was dropped as a candidate for the NDP in the last provincial election after it was revealed that when he was mayor in 2007, he presided over the naming of a street after a high-ranking Nazi officer from the Second World War. To make matters even worse, in 2020 he spoke against changing the name of that street at a town council meeting, despite opposition from local Jewish community members.

Speaker, the failure of the leader of the NDP to remove the member for Hamilton Centre from her caucus is nothing less than a failure in moral leadership. And it paints a clear picture for all Ontarians to see that the NDP is either acting incompetently by failing to vet anti-Semites from their list of nominees and candidates or that it simply does not care about our province’s Jewish communities and their long history of persecution and oppression. Either alternative is sad, Speaker, but we must shine a light on the complacency that the NDP members and its leader demonstrate by allowing this anti-Semitic record to continue even today through the member for Hamilton Centre. I think that the NDP voters and Hamilton Centre citizens expected better and deserve better.

Speaker, the monsters responsible for the killing of innocent Israeli civilians are not freedom fighters, they are not activists, they are not a government and they are not a resistance movement. They are sadistic terrorists bent on genocide, and to mistake them for anything else is nothing short of categorically abhorrent—something which the NDP member for Hamilton Centre should be ashamed of and held accountable for.

There is no place in Ontario for sympathy with anti-Semites and we must continue to condemn anyone who chooses to support—much less celebrate—the terrorists responsible for this wave of discriminatory violence. I am particularly troubled and disgusted by reports of recent hate rallies right here in our province celebrating the killing and kidnapping of Israelis. These so-called demonstrations are a reprehensible display of hatred and anti-Semitism that brings about nothing less than our strongest opposition.

I was also disturbed to see reports on local news of anti-Semitic threats made against a Hebrew school here in Toronto just last week. This terrorist threat to target our children, our educators and their families is despicable, and it results from statements like those of the member for Hamilton Centre—and every member of this House must be unequivocal, therefore, in loudly condemning any terrorist sympathizers, wherever they may be.

I do want to take a brief moment to applaud the efforts of police services from across Ontario to increase their vigilance amidst fears of potential violence against Jewish communities. I also want to applaud my good friend and colleague the Solicitor General, the Honourable Michael Kerzner, for his steadfast leadership in ensuring that our brave officers have the direction and resources necessary to keep our communities safe amidst the disturbing threats to the safety of our Jewish communities. The impact that Hamas’s terrorist attacks have had on them cannot be overstated, Speaker.

It is those very same reports of threats to schools and rallies celebrating death that show the true face of anti-Semitism. That is precisely why we must continue doing everything in our power to protect and support the Jewish people as they fear for their safety.

Now more than ever, this is the time for our province and our world to reaffirm our solidarity with Israel and to defend its right to protect itself and its people in accordance with international law. The principle of a state’s right to defend itself from all aggressors, both foreign and domestic, is a fundamental right of any sovereign state, and Israel’s right to defend itself within the bounds of international law must be respected. Our support must be loud and clear, so that every man, woman, child and senior fearing for their lives and safety knows that they will never stand alone in the face of terror, whether at home in Israel or at home here in our province of Ontario.

Let me be clear about what we are talking about with this motion and our remarks in the House today. Gershon Baskin, a paragon of the Israeli left—described as such in today’s Globe and Mail—67 years old, an individual who always sought peace and mediation as a solution: Even after the deadly attacks by the Hamas terrorists on October 7, even after that, he attempted to reach out to try to mediate, and yet he has concluded as a result, from his home in Jerusalem, according to today’s Globe and Mail, “After what they did on Saturday, there’s no doubt in my mind that the end result of this war has to be the non-existence of Hamas as a governing body in Gaza and as a military threat to Israel.” Just as the Nazi governing apparatus—a hideous apparatus, as described by Sir Winston Churchill—it is a military threat to the world, a terrorist organization filled with hate and anti-Semitism. Just as the Nazi organization had to be removed as the governing body and as a military threat, so must Hamas.

That’s what this motion is about. Anyone who sees it any other way is morally wrong, and the member for Hamilton Centre is therefore—by making those statements and maintaining those statements and pinning those statements—acting in way that is dishonourable to this House, to the traditions of Parliament, conduct unbecoming a member of this House. That is the reason why I support this motion.

I am concerned about the effect of these statements for the safety of the hundreds of Canadians currently left in the region, for the safety of Canadians and members of our Jewish community here at home. We know that at least six Canadians have died at the hands of Hamas terrorists, and at least two others are missing since the beginning of the October 7th attacks. Efforts are under way to safely evacuate the remaining Canadians from the region and find those who are missing. I pray that we are able to locate those who are missing and bring everyone back home to safety as quickly as possible.

The sad reality, however, is that these terrorists are only interested in creating more death and chaos, and they will stop at nothing to damage Israel and her allies at every turn. After all, their promise to eradicate Israel and its people is an inherent part of the genocidal goals of Hamas; let there be no confusion about that. Let’s not forget that, in their original charter, Hamas goes on to say that Israel will exist and continue to exist only until the very moment that they are obliterated, eliminated. Hamas is dedicated to terror, violence and hate. That is the difference.

The member’s statement attempts to confuse and ignore or sanitize that reality. That is why the statement is unbecoming, and deserving of condemnation.

As the Globe and Mail reported one week after the October 7th attacks, it is reminiscent of “the standard catechism of the hard left’s visceral loathing of Israel and Israelis.” The Globe editorial board came out specifically naming the member for Hamilton Centre in its October 14th editorial, calling it “moral myopia,” moral blindness, “nebulous language” that is “a tell ... reminiscent of an earlier generation of leftist apologists who disinfected the crimes of Stalinism with sterile phrases.” And yet the leader of the NDP continues to refuse to remove her from caucus.

The Honourable Lincoln Alexander once said, our former Lieutenant Governor, that when it comes to any matter that we take on as members in the House, our duty is not to be just average; our duty is to set a higher example for others to follow. To quote Lincoln Alexander about setting a higher example, he said, “I did. You can. You will.” If we pass this motion, we will follow that call for a higher example, that call to condemn comments that sterilize violence, hate and anti-Semitism.

It’s important that we call upon the Leader of the Opposition, the leader of the NDP, to remove that member from caucus, because to do nothing is to be complicit. As Dr. Martin Luther King noted, about how evil can flourish, those who remain silent in the face of evil are complicit in that evil and perpetuate that evil. That is why it is incumbent upon this House to adopt this motion. That is why it is incumbent upon the NDP to remove the member for Hamilton Centre from her caucus, because to do nothing, to remain silent, to look the other way and to be morally blind is to be complicit in the evil and all that stems from it.

People across this province, across Canada and around the world are aware of these hurtful and hateful statements and the evil that arises from them. We must in this House be clear about our position, and so must the leader of the NDP. We must have moral clarity. We must have that leadership.

When it comes to Hamas—because that is what we are talking about; that is what the member’s statements attempt to forgive or overlook, that commitment to hate and anti-Semitism, violence and terror—there will be those who continue to loudly deny the terrorist nature of Hamas. They will tell you that this is a form of resistance. They will tell you that they are merely fighting to be free and represent the Palestinian people. But we know better. We know better than to allow ourselves to be led astray by statements like the member for Hamilton Centre made. We know better than to be misled by those who wish to hide and sanitize the crimes of terrorists.

Hamas has murdered entire families, killed parents in front of their children and slaughtered hundreds who gathered for concerts or just to socialize. Hamas members have even hid behind civilians and used them as human shields, in contravention of the rules of engagement, only to spread as much death and destruction as possible. Yet we have the “yes, but” crowd, who try, as apologists for crime and terrorism have decades ago, to distract people from the truth. Well, we’re here to speak about the truth and to condemn misinformation and distractions.

The truth to those who wish to justify terror is not something they can hide from. So statements like those of the member for Hamilton Centre must be challenged and must be opposed with every fibre of our being. History has taught us all too well that the cost of silence can be most destructive. So we cannot stay silent. We will not stay silent. It is why we must speak out to protect the right of Israeli civilians in the face of this vicious assault on their very lives.

For 75 years, Israel has been the sole guarantor of security for Jewish people around the world. For those 75 years, they have made it a core tenet of their state to never allow the past to repeat itself. So why would we, by staying silent, by failing to condemn and by trying to sanitize what is really going on or looking the other way? We would be contributing to the past repeating itself.

I urge this House to support this motion to ensure that that’s not the case. Because if we don’t speak out, we will be failing to follow the words and example of Pastor Martin Niemöller. He was an individual who lived in Nazi Germany who spoke out against it too late and was imprisoned in one of the concentration camps. He lived a long life after the war and after he gained his freedom. He talked about the need to speak out, even when you are not part of the group that is being persecuted, opposed or subjected to terror. If we do not speak out for Israel now, if we do not condemn those statements that condone terrorism, hate and violence against innocent people, then we will be in the same position as Pastor Niemöller was: For “when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.” Let us not be that passivist, that individual or that Parliament that looks the other way.

History teaches us that we must stand loud and strong to condemn violence and those who would condone violence or categorize it in a way that sanitizes it. Terror is terror. Hamas’s terror and commitment to violence and hate is akin to the hideous apparatus of the Nazis.

Now, it was through the strength and resilience of the people of Israel that they gradually were able to achieve some of that longed-for security, despite the threats to their borders from Hamas, Hezbollah and the regime in Iran. At that time, when the world was only just reeling from the aftermath of the Holocaust and when Israel was just a young state, all of what they have come to achieve today seemed unthinkable. But through the same kind of solidarity and perseverance we see in their support today, they overcame the challenges laid before them and built a home for themselves from nothing.

We have now seen them bring about real attempts at long-lasting peace by mending old rivalries, like they did when working to normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain through the Abraham Accords, and even moving forward towards a normalized relationship with Saudi Arabia. It is this precise ability that Israel has had for decades to overcome and overachieve that they have garnered the hatred of enemies like the terrorists of Hamas, who have decided to throw a wrench in these important negotiations in the region through the senseless and brutal violence we are witnessing today.

This is where the inherent right of Israel to defend itself within the bounds of international law is so important: their right to go after Hamas; their right to locate, rescue and bring home their hostages; their right to deter further incursions; and, perhaps most importantly, their right to build security and peace for the people of Israel and the region as a whole for the long term.

Again, in the words of the peacemaker, the mediator Gershon Baskin from his home in Jerusalem: Just like the Nazis as a governing apparatus had to be removed, “the end result of this war has to be the non-existence of Hamas as a governing body in Gaza and as a military threat to Israel.”

October 7 is a moment among some of the darkest moments in human history. We cannot let this dark moment be the subject of apologist language that invalidates the pain felt by the Jewish people over centuries. It is this same kind of language that is a slap in the face to the families of the Israeli civilians who have died since Hamas began their reign of terror.

Speaker, my heart goes out to the victims of this terror and their loved ones. The people of Israel deserve better than to live in fear. Our own Jewish communities here in Ontario deserve better than to live in fear. All deserve better than having to justify their very existence to the rest of the world—particularly Israel and Israelis.

This moment is among the moments when true evil rears its ugly head, unleashing itself upon the unsuspecting, upon the innocent men, women, children and the elderly, aided and abetted by narratives that are wrong and unfair and misleading. We cannot stand idly by and allow this act of sheer evil to go unchecked. We cannot allow it to be aided and abetted by hurtful statements from those in this House, like the member for Hamilton Centre, or anyone else in our civil society in our province of Ontario. Just as generations before us, we cannot allow war crimes to go unanswered or unchecked. We cannot allow them to exist here at home, in Ontario. Our precious freedom, our precious democracy, the precious harmony that exists in our civil, diverse society is at risk if we do nothing or say nothing or fail to swiftly and clearly condemn, if we fail to show moral leadership in this dark time. Whether it is through violence and terror or through hate and anti-Semitism, these manifestations of evil have no place in our province or in our world, and they deserve clear condemnation by this House as representative of Ontario’s society.

I implore my colleagues, Speaker, and I implore every Ontarian that during this time of crisis for the people of Israel, we do not remain silent in the face of terror, violence and anti-Semitism. This is the time for strong moral clarity. Our Premier, the Honourable Doug Ford, has said so clearly and unequivocally. We in the government stand with him. We stand in favour of condemning the statements of the member for Hamilton Centre. We stand in favour of urging the leader of her party to remove her from caucus.

And let’s make no mistake about the distinction between Palestine and Hamas, just as there was a distinction between Germany and the hideous Nazi apparatus. This motion is about statements that purport to distract us from what Hamas is really about. This motion is about condemning language and statements that would do anything less than ensure the removal of Hamas as a governing body in the Gaza Strip and as a threat to Israel. This is about condemning Hamas for the hateful terrorist organization that it is. It has no place in our international society that must be based on peace and harmony and love and respect.

The member for Hamilton Centre and some who have supported her talk about freedom or freedom of speech. St. John Paul, formerly Pope John Paul II, spoke about freedom. He grew up in Poland when it was occupied by the Nazis, and later, the oppressive Soviet Union. When he spoke about freedom, St. John Paul said that freedom consists not in doing what we like but in having the right to do what we ought to do. Freedom of speech is like that. Just because we have the right to say it in our free society doesn’t mean we ought to say it. But when it is said, when misleading comments condoning or indirectly supporting a terrorist organization like Hamas, when statements are allowed to remain public and are even pinned, as those statements by the member for Hamilton Centre have been, remaining unchecked even by her own leader, when that happens, we have to ask ourselves, is it fair to have unlimited free speech in any way, shape or form just because we can do it, or ought we to stand up against it and condemn it? Having freedom, as St. John Paul indicated, is having the right and the freedom to do what is right, to say what is right and to condemn what is wrong.

There are times when moral relativism, when situational ethics are not appropriate. This is that time. There is a right and a wrong. The member for Hamilton Centre is wrong. The member for Hamilton Centre, by her statements remaining up and pinned, is contributing to the evil that is Hamas and all that goes with it, including the threat to the safety and security of our Jewish communities here in Ontario. It must be taken down. There must be an apology, and she must be removed from caucus. That is going to take moral leadership from the leader of the NDP.

I’m not sure what the plans are among the members of His Majesty’s loyal opposition, whether there will be a free vote; whether some will be courageous enough to defy the silence of their leader, the inaction of their leader. But I urge those members—I’m a relatively new member of this House, but I believe that debate in this House matters. I believe that we can and do listen to each other and can be persuaded by each other.

I urge the members opposite to put partisanship or loyalty to their leader aside and support this motion. There are times when partisanship must be set aside. There are times of moral clarity. There are times when there was a clear right and wrong. There are times when it’s not “yes, but.” This is one of those times.

We can never lose sight of the history of what brought Israel to be an independent state, that it is the only democracy in the Middle East, that it has threats to its very existence and that that threat today is coming largely from one organization, Hamas, that is committed to the destruction, the obliteration of Israel, committed to doing so by violence and terror.

The statements of the member for Hamilton Centre are contributing to the myth, to the distraction, to the apology for Hamas, under the guise of freedom of speech. It cannot be allowed to remain the subject of anything but full condemnation by all of us in this House.

If we choose to do nothing, if we choose partisanship or loyalty to a leader over support for this motion, then we are what Dr. Martin Luther King warned us about. To be silent in the face of evil is to contribute to that evil, to perpetuate that evil.

I urge the members opposite to join us and to join the members of the unrecognized party in this House and make support for this motion unanimous, and whether it be before or after the adoption of this motion, I urge the members opposite to urge their leader to remove the member for Hamilton Centre from their caucus in accordance with the intent of this motion.