Honourable senators, on Saturday, May 18, I was honoured to join thousands of Canadians of many different faiths at the inauguration of the Baitur Rahman Mosque in Delta, British Columbia. The Baitur Rahman Mosque is now the largest Ahmadiyya Muslim house of worship in British Columbia.
It was a great honour for British Columbia to host His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifa-tul Masih V, head of the international Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, who presented a keynote address at the reception. Speaking about the new mosque, His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad declared…

Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Syrian refugees now constitute more than 10 per cent of the population in Lebanon. In Jordan, the population has increased by 6 per cent as a result of the refugee influx. As of Monday, May 6, more than 1.4 million Syrian refugees were registered or awaiting registration in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and North Africa.

Honourable senators, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, an estimated 6.8 million Syrians, or almost one third of the entire population, require urgent humanitarian assistance. About 3.1 million, or around 50 per cent, of those who currently require assistance are children. Over the past year, humanitarian needs have risen by 5.8 million people, up from 1 million estimated to be in need in March of this year. Almost half of this increase occurred during the first four months of this year.

Honourable senators, on Saturday, April 27, I was warmly welcomed by the emcee Dan Smith, who is with the First Nations Summit, to the Nuyumbalees Cultural Centre’s dinner and art auction on the Quinsam Reserve, in Campbell River. This annual event, which was very well organized by Jodi Simkin, provides much needed funds to support the operation of the cultural centre and receives generous support from Tom Pallen and Derrick Pallen, prominent businessmen in Campbell River.

Honourable senators, debate on Bill C-43 has been unduly politicized using fear. Fear justifies concentrating arbitrary power in the hands of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. Fear justifies the one-size-fits-all approach, where offenders who commit non-violent crimes are treated in the same way as offenders who commit violent crimes.