I want to begin by saying, on behalf of the Government of Canada, that we have great concern for the victims of violence on all sides of this conflict in Israel and in Lebanon. Canadians have been profoundly affected by the crisis in the Middle East. For many, that experience has been deeply personal and deeply painful. Individuals in our communities have lost loved ones, and sadly among the war dead are 11 Canadians: Major Paeta Hess-von Kreudener, a Canadian killed on UN service; Lieutenant Tom Farkash and Staff Sergeant Yaniv Bar-on; and what I would consider to be the height of the harm to innocents, the eight family members from Montreal who were killed in this conflict. Families have grieved the loss of life, and all have lamented the tremendous suffering of innocent Lebanese and Israeli civilians caught in this crossfire.

I want to extend again, on behalf of the government, our most sincere condolences to the families of the victims both from Canada and abroad. Our thoughts are with them. Words cannot begin to convey the pain and suffering that they have experienced at this troubled time. The loss of a loved one at any time is difficult; in these circumstances, it is beyond comprehension, most of us having never experienced a conflict of this nature.

I am grateful for the active interest in and attention to this issue on the part of my parliamentary colleagues. I thank you for taking the time away from your families and summers to be here with me in Ottawa, where I have been almost all summer, to discuss this most important issue, which has captured world attention.

Protecting Canadians

The safety and security of Canadians is of utmost concern to the government. Put simply, there is no higher priority or obligation for a nation. The safe return of Canadian citizens was our only motivation and goal from the beginning of this crisis.

For this reason, extensive efforts were undertaken to meet the urgent needs of all Canadians seeking to flee from the deteriorating security situation and return to Canada.

I am very proud of the work undertaken by officials in Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) and numerous other departments including the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Department of National Defence (DND), Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CSBA).

We continue to do our utmost to efficiently and safely conduct this evacuation effort and see it through to completion. I witnessed first-hand the best example a minister could experience of putting service to Canadians at the highest level. I applaud the heroic efforts and extraordinary exploits of the dedicated members of the Public Service who made the evacuation happen. My appreciation of and admiration for them could not be overstated.

Many Canadians were in need of help, and our government—given the enormous challenge of distance, and the number of citizens and assets in the region (which I will discuss further)—responded quickly and effectively, with compassion and diligence.

As you are already aware, this involved putting in place the requisite mechanisms and capabilities to accommodate the estimated 40,000 to 50,000 Canadians in Lebanon.

This evacuation of Canadians from Lebanon is by far the largest such effort ever attempted in our country’s history. To put this into context, 500 Canadians were evacuated from Southeast Asia in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami; 200 Canadians were evacuated from Côte d’Ivoire when the crisis erupted in West Africa in 2005. Even fewer were evacuated from the Cayman Islands and Haiti in 2004.

The evacuation of over 13,000 Canadians to date from Lebanon represents an initiative several times larger in scale and scope than these prior four operations combined, and no other country with the exception of the United States has taken more citizens out of harm’s way and returned them safely—without a casualty or injury. The United States took out one thousand more and had aircraft carriers at their disposal. Countries such as Brazil and Sri Lanka, with populations of foreign nationals in-country similar to ours, evacuated far fewer.

A series of interrelated factors compounded the considerable challenges this huge operation presented. These included:

• the rapid deterioration into a rolling continuous war zone;

• the Israeli sea blockade, which created a 12-hour window to move ships in and out;

• basic road, bridge and airport infrastructure that had been seriously damaged, including the Beirut international airport (for all intents and purposes preventing air evacuation without helicopters, of which we had none in the region);

• the deterioration of the communication network in Lebanon (many phone lines and radio towers had been taken out);

• serious capacity shortages in Lebanon’s port infrastructure (only a certain number of boats could dock—we were sharing limited space with numerous other countries);

• high international demand for the limited commercial maritime capabilities available for immediate use in the Mediterranean Sea (resulting in a bidding competition with other countries);

• the distance between Canada and Lebanon (half a world apart);

• the relatively small size of our embassy in Beirut (9 Canada-based and 20 locally engaged staff), which grew in the ensuing period, in contrast to the large resident Canadian community—an estimated 50,000, one of the largest of any Western country in Lebanon; and

• no Canadian embassy in Cyprus, only an honorary consul, while Mersin/Adana is halfway across Turkey and far from Ankara where our embassy is located, leading to the necessity to draw down on Foreign Affairs personnel from the region and beyond, including personnel in Canada.

Moreover, at the same time as Canadian officials were doing their utmost to coordinate a large-scale operation, the security situation was rapidly changing. Certain sections of Beirut, southern Lebanon and northern Israel were becoming veritable war zones. The crisis was escalating at an unforeseeable rate.

In this context, Canadian officials in Lebanon and Israel and throughout the Middle East, as well as in Ottawa, were mobilized to react as effectively and efficiently as possible.

No one—not even the Lebanese government—foresaw the events and violence erupting so quickly or having such grave consequences for civilians as we have seen in the last three weeks.

The following chronology of events serves as a useful outline of the actions undertaken and the issues—logistical and otherwise—involved.

For several years, Hezbollah has been launching rockets into Israel. They stepped up the violence intentionally. On July 12, Hezbollah attacked Israel, killing eight soldiers and kidnapping two others after crossing a UN-established border to provoke a country that had already seen a similar attack from Hamas just weeks earlier. Israel responded to the provocation by launching air, ground and naval offences.

Less than 24 hours later, on July 13, a travel warning was issued for Lebanon, and relevant information was posted on the Internet to apprise Canadians of the evolving and dangerous situation on the ground. During this time, I remained in constant contact with the department and monitored events.

The following day, on July 14, a decision was taken to convene a departmental task force, and on July 15, a crisis call centre and a full interdepartmental task force were put into operation. This involved departments across government, including DFAIT, CIDA, DND, CIC, PSEPC and CBSA. (Inquiries and assessment as to available modes of transportation began.)

At that point, repeated “Messages to Canadians” were already being conveyed from multiple channels, both in Beirut and back home in Canada. (Internet, calls and warden systems began in earnest.)

On July 16, airplanes were chartered and contracts signed with evacuation vessels harboured in ports on the Mediterranean Sea.

With the requisite capabilities identified, an evacuation plan was activated, with Turkey and Cyprus acting as staging points for onward travel.

During this time the focus was on communications with Canadians inside Lebanon and their families in Canada—not with the media or the broader public—and on the securing of capacity to evacuate.

On July 17, the Embassy in Beirut began to contact individual Canadians to inform them of the evacuation plan. By this time, the number of registered Canadians had doubled from 11,000 to 22,000. That number eventually approached 40,000, by the end of last week.

Both the Prime Minister and I were actively engaged throughout these initial stages, including through direct consultation with our Israeli and Lebanese counterparts, to request their assurance of safe passage for Canadians being evacuated from Lebanon.

Initial evacuation of Canadians began on July 19. Over the course of the next week and a half, over 13,000 Canadians were moved to safety.

The following statistics demonstrate the sheer magnitude of this operation.

Our call centre received and responded to more than 35,000 phone calls and over 12,000 emails in the three-week period beginning July 13.

At the height of the evacuation efforts, Canadian officials were making 5,000 phone calls per day to our citizens in Lebanon.

To support the evacuation, 358 officials were either redeployed from Ottawa or reassigned from abroad from embassies or consulates to Beirut, Cyprus and Turkey to assist Canadians in transit. These officials included 174 from DFAIT, 150 from DND, and 34 from CIC and CBSA. Many of these officials remain on the job—on the ground, in the region—to support ongoing efforts.

For DFAIT alone, this deployment was more than five times larger than for the tsunami crisis, during which we deployed 28 DFAIT officials in two weeks. I would add that it was done during a period of rotation (meaning a standard change of personnel in the field) and vacation. It required a large number of officials flying out to the region on few hours’ notice, and people working around the clock on location. Many, including the Prime Minister, expressed serious concerns for the health and well-being of these officials.

To support the 24/7 Operation Crisis Centre, 175 DFAIT employees have volunteered their services. Many cancelled family vacations and even more worked astronomical hours of overtime on a volunteer basis.

In addition to departures by ship from Beirut, we staged another operation to evacuate people via the port of Sour (Tyre) in the south, where the situation remains very troubling. Unfortunately, because of security conditions, only a small number of Canadians (14) were able to get to the port.

Canada was also instrumental in evacuating others such as Americans, Australians, Ukrainians and Africans who wanted to leave Lebanon. This is indicative of the role our country is playing on the international stage. When others asked for our help, we were there for them.

I want to repeat: the success we have achieved in mounting this tremendous undertaking is due in large part to Canadian public servants, who responded to the call of duty with remarkable professionalism and dedication.

I would like to express my gratitude to the hundreds of members of the Canadian Public Service—including those in DFAIT—who continue to work tirelessly for the safe return of Canadian citizens to Canada. Their diligent efforts, under challenging and often volatile conditions, merit our utmost respect and recognition. Canadians have every reason to be proud of the work they are doing in helping fellow citizens to safety.

Canada is also tremendously grateful to Cyprus and Turkey for their invaluable assistance in supporting our evacuation efforts.

We also thank the governments of Israel and Lebanon for their efforts in allowing safe passage of our citizens out of Lebanon.

Responding to humanitarian needs

Since the beginning of the hostilities, Canada has expressed its serious concerns over civilian casualties, the destruction of civilian infrastructure and the growing number of internally displaced people.

We have added our voice to those of our G8 partners in St. Petersburg and, more recently, to others in Rome, to launch an appeal for urgent efforts to deal with the humanitarian impacts of the crisis, and resolve the crisis itself, as well as to press Israel to demonstrate the utmost moderation and to try to avoid civilian losses and damage to civilian infrastructure.

Canada has also been a strong advocate of the safe and unimpeded access of humanitarian personnel to facilitate the delivery of immediate humanitarian relief to Lebanese in need.

One of our vessels was used to help Doctors Without Borders to ship urgently required medical supplies and equipment to Lebanon on July 29.

To date, Canada has announced that it will provide $6 million to respond to pressing humanitarian needs. This was announced in advance of the international donors conference request from UN relief coordinator Jan Egeland.

The international community’s humanitarian response must, however, be accompanied by parallel efforts to achieve a sustainable and permanent ceasefire.

Promoting sustainable peace

In this regard, Canada fully supports the G8 Summit declaration to which the Prime Minister was a signatory on behalf of Canada on July 16. The declaration emphasizes the importance of a cessation of actions that destabilize the region and identifies a progressive plan of action.

The plan, which we continue to support with our partners in the international community, includes a call for the return of the Israeli soldiers unharmed, and an end to the shelling of Israeli territory and to the casualties Israeli civilians have suffered.

We also believe that the utmost Israeli restraint is needed to avoid civilian casualties to the extent possible.

Responsibility for the protection of civilians and humanitarian workers is an obligation that must be fully respected under international humanitarian law.

Canada has participated in multilateral efforts to put an end to the violence, to find a diplomatic solution that is fair and equitable, and to encourage dialogue. We are in close contact with our allies and other countries that are seeking a solution.

I attended the conference of the expanded Lebanon Core Group in Rome at the invitation of the co-chairs, Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema of Italy and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Canada was given a voice at this important gathering. The statement that emerged reflecting the consensus of participating nations was a further expression of Canada’s position—specifically “determination to work immediately to reach with the utmost urgency a ceasefire that puts an end to the current violence and hostilities.”

Canada has from the beginning of this crisis and throughout the ensuing dialogue advocated a path to peace that will last. A quick fix or temporary solution would not suffice and history has proven this to be the case. Certain conditions must be achieved to reach a stable, durable cessation of violence in the region.

In our opinion, any ceasefire must be permanent and lasting. The ordinary citizens of Israel and Lebanon have already suffered enough. Their wishes are very simple, almost fundamental: the freedom to live their lives without fear, the ability to move forward, at last, with confidence, and the same security that Canadians enjoy and expect.

The people of Lebanon must not be held hostage to the actions of extremists from an organization that many nations have designated a terrorist group. Hezbollah and those who support it must recognize the desire of everyone in Lebanon to lead normal and secure lives.

We realize that the violence that we have witnessed in recent weeks is part of a more complex and challenging scenario. Any lasting solution to Middle East tensions must be regional. This principle was recognized in Rome, and has been the basic premise underlying efforts directed toward resolving the conflict and building peace in this troubled part of the world.

Alongside our allies and partners, we continue to call on all regional actors to contribute constructively to achieving this objective. In particular, we have urged those with influence over Hezbollah and their backers in Tehran and Damascus to persuade them to heed the international community’s appeals.

The way forward

While we believe that the bulk of the evacuation operation in Lebanon has been completed, we remain fully committed to facilitating the departure of Canadian citizens choosing to leave.

We will continue to support efforts to address both the immediate humanitarian situation and Lebanon’s longer-term reconstruction and development.

The G8 statement exactly reflects our prognosis and our evaluation of the situation and what got us to this point.

The ceasefire is one element of the action plan that is called for in the G8 statement, but is neither the first nor the only thing called for. An eventual ceasefire is part and parcel of the resolution.

The statement of the G8 leaders calls on all parties to take a series of actions to resolve the crisis.

Let me be clear. We will not shift blame from the extremists who caused this violence, and who want it to continue. Everyone agrees that there must be an end to the bloodshed. There is no one who wants this to continue except the terrorists.

They initiated the violence, and they oppose peace in principle.

The untold suffering of people in both Lebanon and Israel is heartbreaking.

The recent meeting in Rome, and the UN’s mandate to address this crisis, have confirmed the commitment of the international community to resolve this crisis.

We will continue to advocate diplomatic and constructive solutions.

Thank you.

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Last Updated: 2006-10-30	Top of Page	Important Notices