"I want to take a moment to share with the House how angry I am."
That's how Liberal MP Omar Alghabra began a speech in the House of Commons Thursday to close a week of sadness and tragedy.
Mississauga Centre MP Omar Alghabra speaks in the House of Commons on Thursday, March 24. (Photo: Screengrab)
Alghabra, one of 11 Muslim MPs elected in October, spoke of the carnage in Brussels days ago, for which the so-called Islamic State has claimed credit.
Bombings in the capital of Belgium Tuesday killed at least 31 people and injured another 270.
"The terrorist attacks in Brussels this week make me angry," said Alghabra, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs. "The killing of unsuspecting, innocent civilians makes me angry."
"Listening to terrorists pretend to speak in the name of my faith makes me angry."
"Listening to terrorists pretend to speak in the name of my faith makes me angry," he continued, heads nodding around him. "The willingness of some humans to inflict carnage on their fellow human makes me angry."
Comfort, too
But he said there was comfort to be found this miserable week, too, in the touching stories of humanity and compassion amid the horror.
"Hearing many people from different backgrounds rally together and vow to confront such acts offers me comfort," he said.
"Watching many resist the temptation to succumb to anger and instead offer resolve, thoughtful, and firm responses offers me comfort."
He ended with a call for Canadians to open their hearts to victims in Brussels, and everywhere.
Alghabra was not the only MP to open up about Brussels this week — news that was, perhaps, overshadowed in Canada by the deaths of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and Tory MP Jim Hillyer, and the new Liberal government's first budget.
Tory MP: 'These terrorists have taken advantage of our values'
On Tuesday, hours after the bombing, Conservative MP Andrew Scheer delivered remarks in the House.
"These attacks, whether they occur in Brussels, Paris, or in Ottawa, are attacks on our way of life," Scheer said.
The Tory House leader said people from all around the world move to Western countries because of their welcoming societies and respect for individual rights.
"These terrorists have taken advantage of our values and our openness by committing these heinous acts," he said. "All freedom-loving nations need to stand shoulder to shoulder to fight the threat of those who want to replace our open societies with one based on radical jihadism."
Scheer also dismissed any notion that such attacks are isolated or the acts of a small group.
"They are part of a systemic and worldwide attack on everything our civilization stands for," he said.
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