Mr. Mario Silva (Davenport, Lib.): Silva.M@parl.gc.ca 
 
Mr. Speaker, today is Holocaust Remembrance Day, a sombre day when we reflect on one of the most tragic periods of human history.
 
Yet, just yesterday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used the Durban Review Conference to incite hatred and genocide and undermine the cause of human rights. The Iranian president’s complicity in crimes against humanity reminds us of our profound obligation to speak out against hatred and his call for the end of Israel.
 
We must join together, today and every day, to remember the millions who lost their lives as innocent victims of hate at the hands of the most despicable regime the world has ever seen.
 
Let us challenge inhumanity and confront injustice when it tries to rear its head. Let us say with conviction, “Never again; never again!”
 

 
Mr. Gord Brown (Leeds-Grenville, CPC): Brown.G@parl.gc.ca
 
Mr. Speaker, today is Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day. Across this country, Canadians will remember, reflect, and most importantly, ensure that we never forget one of the greatest tragedies in human history.
 
The extermination of millions of Jewish people during World War II was a crime against all humankind. It is a priority of our government to ensure that the Holocaust is properly taught and commemorated both in Canada and around the world. We have committed to host the next meeting of the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism, in 2010.
 
In partnership with the French and American governments, we will co-host with B’nai Brith a conference entitled, “The St. Louis Era: Looking Back, Moving Forward”.
 
Also this summer, Canada will take the next step toward becoming a full member in the Holocaust task force.
 
Canada was the first country in the world to withdraw from the anti-Semitic Durban Review Conference.
 
To acknowledge the singular horror of the Holocaust is to acknowledge that there are lines we may never cross and that human rights are either universal or non-existent.
 

 
Mr. Paul Crête (Montmagny-L’Islet-Kamouraska-Rivière-du-Loup, BQ): Crete@parl.gc.ca
 
Monsieur le Président, aujourd’hui est le Jour commémoratif de l’Holocauste, cette tragédie qui a marqué la Deuxième Guerre mondiale et qui a coûté la vie, de façon totalement injustifiable et arbitraire, à plus de 6 millions de Juifs.
 
Plus de 60 ans plus tard, il importe que nous tirions encore des leçons de ces tristes événements. Des leçons de courage, celui des survivants, mais aussi de la lutte contre le racisme. Mais l’ultime enseignement que nous devons tirer de l’Holocauste est très certainement la certitude qu’une telle tuerie systématique et organisée ne se reproduise plus.
 
Ce jour doit donc être l’occasion de nous pencher sur les défis actuels auxquels sont confrontés plusieurs peuples. En ce sens, notre responsabilité demeure d’assurer un appui à ceux et à celles qui défendent le droit des nations d’exister. Dans ce contexte, nous ne pouvons que souhaiter que la reconnaissance des peuples palestiniens et israéliens se réalise, et ce, dans deux États distincts.

 [Translation]

Mr. Speaker, today is Holocaust Memorial Day, when we remember the World War II tragedy that resulted in the unjustifiable and arbitrary death of more than six million Jews.
 
More than 60 years later, it is important that we retain the lessons of these tragic events. We must remember the courage of the survivors and also the fight against racism. But most importantly we must ensure that such a systematic and organized massacre never happens again.
 
Therefore, on this day we should focus on current challenges faced by a number of peoples. Our responsibility remains to provide support to those who defend the right of nations to exist. In this context, we must hope for the recognition of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples and the creation of two separate countries.
 

 
Hon. Anita Neville (Winnipeg South Centre, Lib.):  Neville.A@parl.gc.ca
 
Mr. Speaker, I too rise today to pay tribute to the victims of the Holocaust.
 
Sixty-four years ago Nazi extermination camps were liberated, but for more than six million Jews and millions of others it was too late.
 
As we mark Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, we must remind ourselves why we say “Never Again”.
 
We say it to remember the countless victims who were brutalized and murdered simply because of who they were. We say it to remind ourselves that those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
 
Now more than ever it is important to reflect and to act.
 
We must act today when human rights are mocked at the Durban Review Conference and Israel is unjustly singled out yet again. We must act when the Iranian president speaks of Zionist conspiracies and tries to rewrite history to make the Holocaust a myth. We must act as anti-Semitism flares up in Canada and incitement to murder Jews persists around the world.
 
We must remember, be vigilant, and outspoken in defence of everyone’s right to life, free of persecution.
 

 
Mr. Scott Reid (Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington, CPC): Reid.S@parl.gc.ca
 
Mr. Speaker, in January 2008, the Minister of Immigration announced that Canada would be the first country in the world to withdraw from the Durban review process. Since then, much of the world has followed Canada’s lead, including Italy, Australia, New Zealand, the Obama administration in the United States and Israel.
 
Yesterday’s hate-filled speech by Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the conference would seem to vindicate the Conservative position on Durban. Will the Minister of Immigration describe the government’s policy on the Durban process?
 
Hon. Jason Kenney (Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, CPC): Kenney.J@parl.gc.ca 
 
Mr. Speaker, Canada was the first country in the world to withdraw from the Durban process. We did so last January because of our concerns that it would be a repeat of the fiasco of Durban I.
 
Yesterday’s speech by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his odious remarks vindicate our decision, which has been followed by a number of other countries. He made those remarks on the eve of Holocaust commemoration day. Bizarrely, a UN spokesman actually said that at least he did not deliver all of his lines about Holocaust denial.
 
Canada was right to lead the world in removing itself from this incredibly inappropriate process that is promoting and not combating racism. We are leading the world and not following.