Nathan
GA Member
- Jul 2, 2018
- 761
Hansard
| HC-01 Statement to the House of Commons Regarding the attacks on the United Kingdom |
The House of Commons chamber was a hive of activity as MP's piled in to attend to the upcoming parliamentary business. However, things were different on the particular morning. The traditional cheer as Prime Minister Harrington and Leader of the Opposition Ellie Sheridan walked in was notably more subdued.
The hum of the chamber was broken when the towering Speaker of the House Gregory Henshaw stood from his prominent seat. Speaker Henshaw was a suckler for tradition, although known to be firm but fair
"The chamber will now come to order... I call the Prime Minister for a statement"
A notable, yet restrained cheer went out from the Conservative benches as the Prime Minister stood up.
"Thank you Mr Speaker, this morning Canadians were awoken to the horrific events that occurred in London. A horrifying attack on innocent civilians in the underground, on busses and in shopping centres. This of course occurred into the run up to the Christmas period, a time of coming together with family and celebrating. For many families, this has now been cruelly ripped away.
We do not yet know if Canadian's were involved in this incident. We know that many Canadian's live and work in London, or chose to visit the city on holiday. I have ordered the embassy in London to establish a support line for potential victims to get support"
The Prime Minister takes a pause;
"Or for the families of those victims to try and find their loved ones. We hope that no Canadian's have been injured or killed in this incident, but the government is ready to help those families in returning their loved ones back to Canada.
Mr Speaker, this attack was a cowardly attempt to subdue and disrupt the freedom and democracy of the civilized world. Al-Qaeda have tried to justify this attack through their twisted and deranged ideology. They will not win.
The Leader of the House is completing legislation to proscribe and ban Al-Qaeda from Canada. Anyone found to be supporting and aiding these monsters will be met with the full consequences of the law.
Our support lays firmly with the people of the United Kingdom and we will ensure that Al-Qaeda fails.
We do not have any specific intelligence to suggest there is a plot against Canada, however, I have asked the RCMP to step up their patrols in high density areas and for the intelligence services to continue to monitor those known to be vulnerable to radicalisation.
Thank you to the emergency services and Government of the United Kingdom for their swift response
Thank you. I commend this statement to the house."
Members on both sides of the chamber would show a rare moment of unity, standing to applaud the speech and the UK's emergency services.
Jamie
