Mr. Speaker, this evening I want to contribute to the debate with why I think it is important to act very quickly.

We note that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terror group has been carrying out murderous rampages across Iraq, seizing territory systematically and killing children, women, and men as well as displacing more than one million Iraqis. This has been very disturbing.

Only a few months ago, in February 2014, I was in Iraq to open up a trade office in Erbil. It was Canada's first trade mission to Iraq in 25 years. I was there opening the trade office to show that Canada had a strong commitment to support Iraq's democratic development.

On this unprecedented visit, I visited the cities of Basra, Baghdad, and Erbil. We expanded our presence by supporting Iraqis in their efforts to build a brighter future. Again, that was only this past February, which is why I believe this debate is important, but our actions must happen quickly.

I want to continue to talk about how promising it was. Canada was there to help Iraq build infrastructure, develop natural resources, and create wealth for its citizens. Canada felt that creating economic opportunity was how Iraq would regain both political and social stability.

In Baghdad I was at the first conference for Canada-Iraq commercial relations, and in Erbil I spoke at the first conference on Canada-Kurdistan commercial relations. These conferences brought together business leaders from Canadian companies and local Iraqi business representatives who wanted to conduct business in Canada with Canadians.

The trade mission, which was organized by the Canada-Arab Business Council, was primarily composed of companies in the oil, gas, and infrastructure sectors. During the trade mission, I met with the prime minister at the time, Nouri al-Maliki; the vice president; the minister of foreign affairs; Basra's governor; and the president of Iraq-Kurdistan region, Massoud Barzani. It was there that I could confirm that Canada was resolved to support Iraq's efforts in reconstruction and in combatting terrorism, and confirm our commitment to support the Iraqi people in their ongoing efforts to build democracy and pluralistic federalism.

With that, I will wrap up.

Lynne Yelich

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