Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development

Comité permanent des affaires étrangères et du développement international

For immediate release

Ottawa, March 30, 2015 -

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development today presented a report entitled: Canada’s Response to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The report is the result of the Committee’s study of the violence, religious persecution and dislocation perpetrated by ISIL in Iraq, Syria and the region. The Committee is making sixteen recommendations to the Government of Canada regarding its response to the threat posed by ISIL.

Testimony highlighted the misery that has been inflicted by ISIL, a terrorist organization whose actions violate human rights, human dignity and international law. People have been killed by ISIL for simply belonging to a certain group or holding a certain faith. Others have been forced to flee with nothing. If left unchecked, ISIL could destroy the ethnic and religious diversity of Syria and Iraq. Moreover, ISIL threatens the stability of the broader region. It is a magnet for extremist fighters, and seeks to establish adherents in countries beyond Syria and Iraq, while ignoring the borders and sovereignty of both.

International terrorism and violent extremism are complex and multi-dimensional issues, requiring a comprehensive approach and sustained response. Even so, as the Committee states in its report, the essence of the specific issue at hand is clear: ISIL, and its violent ideology, must be defeated.

Committee Chair Dean Allison emphasized that “Canada must remain engaged with its allies in the international coalition against ISIL.” He said, “Our study and report make it clear that Canada cannot ignore this crisis,” and underscored that if “ISIL were allowed to expand, or even to remain in the territory it currently controls, it would only continue to inflict all of the horrors described in our report.”

As detailed in the report, there are real and pressing needs that Canada can help to address in response to the crisis that has been unleashed by ISIL. These include humanitarian relief and military support.

Given the complex regional challenges discussed in the report, Vice-Chair Marc Garneau stressed the need for “Canada to develop a long-term strategy that can guide its engagement in the Middle East and North Africa.”

Among other actions, the Committee is recommending that the Government of Canada continue to participate in the international coalition against ISIL, towards the implementation of the coalition’s five lines of effort and the realization of the objective of defeating ISIL. The Committee is also recommending that Canada continue to provide substantial humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of the millions of people who have been affected and displaced by the on-going violence in Syria and Iraq.

The full text of the report is available on the Committee’s website.