Thank you, Chair.
Thank you to our guests, particularly Mr. Simmons for his determination to get here today. I appreciate that.
I'm just hearing as of today that there was a resignation of the south Sudanese representative as a commissioner for the referendum. Basically he was pushing to have a delay in the referendum. We have the Abyei process, which we have discussed, which went off the tracks before we even got started, in terms of delay. The White House was involved in trying to push that along.
Nonetheless, most people are asserting in the case of the referendum that it will go ahead. When we have commissioners resign—I think it was yesterday, the resignation of the commissioner—I'm concerned. If we don't have a referendum going ahead because they're not prepared or there is some involvement from other parties to obstruct it, I'm concerned that we'll have conflict again, frankly.
Maybe I'll ask Mr. Simmons, first. What's your take on the referendum itself? Is it something Canada can help with, or is it something they're just going to have to untangle themselves? In light of yesterday's resignation, what's your read on what's happening with the referendum?