Marcus Powlowski, Thunder Bay—Rainy River
Linked statement
“I visited Syria and saw how badly it was destroyed by war. Syria needs massive help from other countries to rebuild, just like Europe did after World War II. People who commit war crimes must also face justice.”
“Mr. Speaker, recently, while in Syria with the Canadian team, we visited Yarmouk, where, block after block, every single building is a bombed-out shell. There we came across three smiling children coming home from school. When asked, two of them said they wanted to be engineer and one of them, a doctor. At first, I thought that was unrealistic, but then I remembered that, after the Second World War, much of Europe looked like Yarmouk, and it was rapidly rebuilt thanks to the Marshall plan. Syria needs similar help. The civil war killed over a million people and left over 80,000 with amputations. Bombs are cheap. In a split second, they kill, maim and destroy lives, but it takes an immense amount of resources to rebuild. Furthermore, many things cannot be rebuilt, undone or forgiven. The Nuremberg trials held that war was “the supreme international crime” because “it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.” Although many current global leaders wish it otherwise, these words remain true today, and the day will come when, once again, those who commit war crimes will be held to account.”
Mr. Speaker, recently, while in Syria with the Canadian team, we visited Yarmouk, where, block after block, every single building is a bombed-out shell. There we came across three smiling children coming home from school. When asked, two of them said they wanted to be engineer and one of them, a doctor. At first, I thought that was unrealistic, but then I remembered that, after the Second World War, much of Europe looked like Yarmouk, and it was rapidly rebuilt thanks to the Marshall plan. Syria needs similar help. The civil war killed over a million people and left over 80,000 with amputations. Bombs are cheap. In a split second, they kill, maim and destroy lives, but it takes an immense amount of resources to rebuild. Furthermore, many things cannot be rebuilt, undone or forgiven. The Nuremberg trials held that war was “the supreme international crime” because “it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.” Although many current global leaders wish it otherwise, these words remain true today, and the day will come when, once again, those who commit war crimes will be held to account.