On Parliament Hill

Over the past several months, Canadians have witnessed the horrific situation unfolding in Iraq. The Islamic State is a threat not only to the innocent civilians living in Iraq but also to other places around the world including Canada.

Although we are blessed to live in a free and democratic country, we are not immune to the global threat of terrorism. In fact, Canada has been threatened by the Islamic State this fall in some of their propaganda videos. I believe that the Canadian government has the responsibility to defend Canadians from terrorists who seek to undermine our basic freedoms.

In response to this danger, I am pleased that our Prime Minister Stephen Harper has taken a strong stand against these extremists. Our government is working to combat these threats through tough legislation and strengthening relationships with Canada’s allies around the world.

Since forming Government, we have implemented a number of measures that will help defend our country against extremist groups such as ISIS. These include:

• Revoking Canadian Passports for those Canadians who decided to join ISIS.
• Placing ISIS on Canada’s list of terrorist groups.
• Introducing the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act which strips the Canadian citizenship from dual-nationals who engage in acts of terrorism.

Although we remain vigilant, it is important to remember that violent extremism can’t be eradicated overnight. It is the test of our generation.