Debates of Feb. 12th, 2014

Situation in the Central African Republic

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for that question, because one of the development issues that we focus on is indeed capacity-building. One of the great needs in Africa is potable water and sanitation. We work with many of the African countries on seeing those systems implemented. Diarrheal deaths for children are one of the greatest catastrophes in the world. We need to know that these African countries are building their capacity and ensuring safe water systems alone.

We are working with countries on their elections. When I was in Benin, we spoke with the elections department in that country. They are moving forward in putting together free and fair elections. Many of these countries have a long way to go, but we want to see them build those capacities and we want to be part of that because Canada has a great reputation in Africa.

My son-in-law's brother works for the United Nations department for the AIDS initiatives in 14 of the African countries, and when I speak with Ben, he tells me that the reputation of Canada on the ground is that the people in Africa know that when Canada says that it will make a contribution, Canada steps up to the plate.

I know there was a question in the House earlier about whether or not the money that has been promised by this government is going to be available and when it is going to be available. I am very proud to stand in the House and say that when Canada makes a promise, our government keeps that promise, and the money is available to those initiatives immediately.

We call on other countries to pay what they pledge because it is only by paying what we pledge that we are going to be able to see these countries move forward with capacity-building and developing their health care systems. We are seeing continued drops in mortality rates for children.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Chair, this is a very important debate. I think everyone on all sides of the House recognizes that there is a humanitarian crisis with a potential for looming genocide. However, a lot of Canadians hear this kind of language very often about different countries about which they know very little, and it tends to create the impression that we have a situation that is beyond help—that Canadians can throw humanitarian aid, but it will not make a difference.

I want to personalize it. To my hon. colleague, who is a friend and also a woman in political life, let us focus on the opportunity right now. Since January 23, this besieged country has one of the few women presidents in Africa right now. Catherine Samba-Panza, who represents a voice calling for non-violence, is calling for her people—she calls them her children, while they are calling her “Mother Courage”—to lay down their arms. She is asking the UN for help. She is asking the world for help.

This is not a situation in which, as is so often tragically the case, we have a deranged, despotic leadership and people torn by sectarian violence. We have sectarian violence on the ground, but we have a president of the Central African Republic who is asking us for help. It is a very specific woman who has only been in power since January 23, less than a month.

What can Canada do beyond what we have done now? If asked, what can we do to ensure the success and the restoration of peace, security, and a healthy civil society in CAR?

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for that question because it gives me the opportunity to recognize many of the women in Africa who are taking their positions in places of leadership across that continent.

I was in Malawi last January with the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association. Joyce Banda is the president of that country. I was in Mozambique speaking at a conference for the African Minerals Development Centre where Minister Bias, who is the minister of mines for the country of Mozambique, has taken a very strong leadership on the issues of regulation and legislation for African minerals.

These women are stepping up. I have met many women in critical positions in Africa, and we encourage them as women to take their place on the world stage in these places of political life.

We know that the president of CAR is facing a very difficult situation right now. Canada is going to continue to be there. We will continue to assess the situation and watch as the needs unfold. Canada will continue to help.

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Mr. Chair, I must begin by saying that, as someone who has worked internationally for almost 25 years, including with the United Nations and the Organization of American States, I am pleased to contribute to this evening's debate.

In addition, as a new member and vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity, I am pleased to speak to the issue this evening.

When I rise in the House, it is always an honour for me to be able to at least try to contribute to all the debates that we hold here. The topic of this evening's debate saddens me a great deal. I rise sadly, but also with what I might call some nostalgia. Indeed, there was a time when our country, Canada, had great credibility and great influence on the international scene, in conflicts of all kinds. We have lost a little of that credibility over the years, especially in recent years.

If we look back over the last 20 years, perhaps even further back, and we consider all the crises that we have seen since, the list is so long that the 10 minutes I have been granted would not be sufficient to allow me to read it.

First, I am simply going to go back to some points that we have raised in this debate. Clearly, our party strongly supports the people of the Central African Republic in this crisis. Our thoughts are with the population as a whole and with all those who have fallen victim since it all started. We are also deeply concerned about the humanitarian crisis and the violence that are ravaging the country, as is the United Nations Security Council.

We need to remember that our concern is indeed shared by the United Nations Security Council. In the fifth paragraph of the preamble of its resolution 2127, the Security Council underlines:

…its particular concern at the new dynamic of violence and retaliation and the risk of it degenerating into a countrywide religious and ethnic divide, [and this is the important part] with the potential to spiral into an uncontrollable situation, including serious crimes under international law, in particular war crimes and crimes against humanity…

That is a concern that we share with the United Nations Security Council. It bears repeating given the context of this debate.

It makes sense for the opposition parties and the parties present in the House to draw attention to some of Canada's obligations as a member of the United Nations.

Every member country has a number of obligations under the United Nations charter. International co-operation is one of the cornerstones of the United Nations charter. It is such a basic obligation that we sometimes forget about it. We need to work with other countries during these types of crises, and that is what we are urging the government to do with this debate tonight and in the days to come.

Our credibility on the international stage and the influence we used to have with other members of the United Nations have eroded somewhat over the years. The action we take with regard to this conflict can help us restore that.

Much has been said about the need for prevention. Our international network allows us to take preventive measures, which are important around the globe. Where there are risks, it is easy to see them coming.

Before coming to Parliament Hill, I took a quick look at previous reports from the human rights commission and the human rights committee. These are two separate authorities that have different roles to play given their respective mandates. I noted that the human rights committee began criticizing the CAR in 2006 for not submitting its periodic reports, as is required of countries that sign the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

According to article 40 of this covenant, a periodic report must be submitted to the human rights committee every four or five years. The committee must verify whether the country that signs the human rights covenant is respecting the rights set out in the covenant and how it is doing so. Therefore, the country must submit periodic reports.

Beginning in 2006, the Central African Republic was being chastised for not fulfilling its obligations under article 40. Anyone who looked at previous reports would have seen signs of the country's attitude toward human rights in general. There were warnings. That is the beauty of our international human rights system. Tools are in place to warn us about the kind of crisis we are talking about tonight.

Again, we are asking the government to provide additional emergency humanitarian aid and to direct that aid to the most effective and experienced humanitarian organizations on the ground. That goes without saying. The experts on the ground are familiar with the local situations. They are usually in the best position to help these people.

I hardly need to remind everyone that the crisis in the Central African Republic is a level three humanitarian emergency. Other members pointed that out earlier. This is serious. There are two other level three situations going on right now: the Philippines and Syria.

I have just a minute left, but I want to emphasize that we need to take immediate action on this issue. This conflict is affecting 4.6 million people, 2.3 million of them children. It has displaced more than 820,000 people and caused 256,000 refugees to flee the Central African Republic. Those are huge numbers. Such a long list tells us that the crisis is severe and the need for action is immediate.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Mr. Chair, the debate seems to be now focusing on prevention. As his colleague, the hon. member for Ottawa Centre, pointed out, in the case of the Central African Republic, we were not able to prevent this conflict.

Now, the entire population is threatened and we have a duty to intervene. As the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs rightly said, if there is to be any progress, some degree of stability needs to be restored first. I am part of the same committee for the prevention of genocide as my colleague, and this is a timely issue.

What measures would my colleague like to see from the Government of Canada to help prevent such a situation and prevent a massacre like the one that happened in Rwanda in 1994?

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Mr. Chair, I thank the hon. member for his very important and very troubling question. When the United Nations Security Council takes the trouble to point out in its resolution that this is the direction we seem to be heading in and that we have already seen this in the past two decades, I think it is important to take action.

First of all, as we have emphasized many times here, Canada must continue doing what it does best: helping on the ground with humanitarian assistance, in co-operation with non-governmental organizations that are experts in this area. I think we need to continue this co-operation that must exist between the Canadian government and those organizations. This partnership has always proven effective, I believe, and this co-operation must continue.

I would like to point out another important part of his question, namely the international co-operation that is always needed in any crisis, not just in the one we are discussing here this evening. In any crisis, international co-operation is the shared responsibility of all member nations under the United Nations charter, as I mentioned, and this must continue.

[Raymond Côté, NDP, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Chair, as I was saying, I have been in touch with Central African nationals. I feel I was given a mandate by those people, who shared their concerns and hopes with me. They live in hope despite the great hardships experienced by their country and their loved ones who are still in the Central African Republic. They are still hoping for a solution that might bring peace. The thing that struck me is that when they approached me, they felt that Canada still had considerable moral authority to intervene in this part of Africa.

I would like my colleague from Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou to rely on his experience to give me an assessment of this moral authority and tell me whether it is strong enough to do more than just provide financial aid.

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Mr. Chair, I would like to thank my colleague from Beauport—Limoilou for his question. He raises a very important point that very few people have talked about this evening: there seems to be little reaction when an African country is involved.

There is a very strong reaction when this happens elsewhere. However, when it happens in Africa, we seem to react differently. Like my colleague from Ottawa Centre, I am shocked to see this. It makes me sad. I know that I represent a riding that is quite removed from all of this. I am referring to the far north, the Arctic. Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou is very different from Africa, not just in terms of the climate, but in many other respects. I know that we must always have a moral obligation when it comes to this type of situation. It may not be very evident because we are concerned with many other things it seems. There again, I would like to reiterate that it is rather shocking that when this situation occurs in an African country it elicits less of a response.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Chair, as has been mentioned, some 2.3 million children are affected by this conflict, with nearly half a million children displaced by violence in the past year. Many are hiding in the forests with little or no access to basic service or assistance. Schools across the country are closed, health clinics ransacked, and water systems destroyed. The rainy season beginning in March will exacerbate an already precarious humanitarian situation for hundreds of thousands of people living in internally displaced sites across the country.

Does the member think that children should be the focus of greater investment if there is to be any chance of rebuilding the health, education and community systems that protect and nurture children? Again, $5 million is not enough.

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for her question. I think she has raised a crucial point in this debate.

I would humbly say that children are very important. Children play a very central role in society, according to the traditions of my culture. I think that is an important aspect on which we should focus. Atrocities are being committed against women and, more specifically, young women. We must make a serious effort to put an end to that.

Canada has experience with democratic reform, the democratization of society and democratic elections. We have been living proof of that experience for a long time, although we may have lost our humanitarian touch. I would like us to rediscover the moral, political and legal attitudes we had in the past. In my opinion, our reputation depends on it.

[Raymond Côté, NDP, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Chair, I would like to take this opportunity to address my colleague. Earlier in the debate, I posted on Facebook that we were having a debate on the situation in the Central African Republic. A Venezuelan national responded. I met her in the past and she told me about the heartbreaking situation in her country.

I would like to talk to my colleague about another issue. Small arms trafficking is very popular in Venezuela, as it is in the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As a result, these kinds of situations can happen and deteriorate very quickly and tragically.

Could my colleague comment on the problem of arms trafficking? It is easy to obtain personal arms, which causes a lot of problems around the world.

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Mr. Chair, let me reiterate that we continue to call on the Conservative government to sign the arms trade treaty. In my view, small arms fuel conflicts like this one. Even the United Nations Security Council has raised this issue. I think that signing this treaty would bode well for Canada.

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Mr. Chair, I must admit that until last Friday, I may have been one of those people who, as my colleague referred to earlier, knew very little about the Central African Republic conflict. I knew something of it, but not what I should have. I still do not claim to be an expert by any stretch of the imagination.

Last Friday, along with the member for Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia, I had the honour of meeting with the ambassador of the Central African Republic, who is stationed in Washington but is duly accredited both to the U.S. and Canada. I observed in this gentleman a very deeply concerned individual. He is concerned for the health and welfare of his country and is honestly seeking assistance in terms of moral support and understanding from the international community. As was alluded to earlier, this is somewhat of a forgotten war.

With that preamble, I would like to comment on some of the issues we are currently aware of as they relate to the Central African Republic.

The situation in the Central African Republic is deeply disturbing. I welcome this opportunity to contribute to the House deliberations today by focusing on the security response.

The Central African Republic has had a particularly troubled history since gaining its independence from France in 1960. Yet, despite poverty, military coups and dictatorships in the Central African Republic, relations have traditionally been peaceful between the country's two largest religious communities, Christians and Muslims.

To be sure, despite the absence of conflict between religious communities, all was not peaceful in the CAR. There were conflicts for access to resources and land between the various communities. These conflicts were based on opportunity, on survival, and on ensuring one's community and one's family would have access to the necessary resources described.

Things changed in March 2013 with the overthrow of Central African Republic President Bozizé, by a loose coalition of mainly Muslim rebel groups known as Seleka. Seleka fighters quickly became infamous for the atrocities and exactions they committed on the people of the CAR, particularly on Christian communities. Seleka's own leader, then President Djotodia, bowed to international pressure and officially disbanded Seleka in September 2013. Despite this, former Seleka fighters continued their abuse of the civilian population of the CAR.

In response, some communities formed self-defence groups called anti-balaka. Some of these groups took the fight directly to Seleka, while others instead chose to retaliate against innocent Muslim civilians. These Muslims retaliated too. As we can see, a vicious spiral was now at work in the CAR. At any moment, someone could be targeted by a sudden outbreak of mob violence, in turn provoking more revenge killings and suffering in the country.

Now we see a rise in the violence in the CAR, and vigilante violence between neighbours of different faiths have become all too common a sight. Fighting is ongoing in several regions of the country. This is not a conflict over religious beliefs. Rather, it is a cycle of fear and retribution between communities who feel they have nothing left to lose.

Canada has strongly condemned this violence. The Minister of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on December 4, 2013, calling for an immediate end to the violence against civilian populations of all faiths. Last Friday, February 7, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Canada's Ambassador of Religious Freedom issued a joint statement calling for an end to the cycle of violence in the CAR.

This conflict is not a conflict of religious beliefs. There is no right side or wrong side, only an ever-increasing number of victims.

Canada strongly condemns all perpetrators of violence against the civilian population in the CAR. We have not been alone in this. All of our partners have joined in unanimously condemning these massacres and egregious human rights abuses.

As the security situation in the CAR unravelled, an international response was prepared. It became clear that African countries in the region wanted to take the lead in resolving this crisis and in providing for their own security and that of their own continent. In this regard, Canada commends the strong leadership demonstrated by the African Union and its member states, as well as by France in undertaking political and security initiatives to address this crisis.

In December 2013, the United Nations approved the deployment of the African Union international support mission to the CAR, called MISCA, supported by French forces. African troops from nearby countries, such as Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, and more recently Burundi and Rwanda, deployed through the country to restore security and protect CAR citizens. The UN Security Council, deeply concerned by the growing violence against civilians, set up a UN trust fund to allow the international community to finance MISCA.

Canada moved swiftly to support MISCA. On December 15, 2013, the government announced a $5-million contribution to support MISCA's efforts to restore peace and stability in the CAR through this UN trust fund. Canada's contribution will help to feed, equip and support African Union troops so they can restore security, prevent more violence and protect all communities in the country. The trust fund will also help to pay for outreach activities so that opposing communities can find common ground and a way forward after the conflict is over.

Unfortunately, the conflict in the CAR has worsened in early 2014. MISCA and French forces, just over 6,000 troops in total, are overwhelmed by the scope of the problem. Often they cannot reach hot spots or patrol outside of urban areas. In response, on January 28, the UN Security Council strengthened the role of the UN peacekeeping office in the CAR so it could offer better support to the CAR government. The UN also approved the deployment of a 600-strong European Union mission to assist MISCA in France and extended sanctions against those who engage in or support acts that undermine peace and stability in the CAR.

Canada appreciates the important contribution made by the African countries of MISCA and for the French and EU forces that support them. We sincerely hope these efforts, which our contribution supports, will make a difference on the ground and deliver security back to the people of the CAR.

On January 20, 2014, Catherine Samba-Panza, the mayor of Bangui, was selected as CAR's new transitional president. A few days later she announced the formation of her transitional government. Canada is encouraged by this development as a first step toward restoring constitutional order, fostering the rule of law and establishing a truly democratic process in the CAR. These will be arduous tasks for this new government, and the international community must support it in this goal, as well as in its goal to hold free and democratic elections as soon as conditions allow.

The considerable efforts by the international community to stabilize the country, protect civilians and address the urgent needs of the population deserve recognition. Canada will also do its part for reconciliation between communities in the CAR. I know that the Minister of Foreign Affairs is exploring opportunities for Canada to support projects aimed at facilitating dialogue and reconciliation between communities in the CAR, once the violence subsides enough for this to become possible. This will not be easy for as long as insecurity prevails in the country.

Together with its partners, Canada will continue to assist all the people of the Central African Republic as they strive to overcome this violence in order to rebuild their country, their communities and their livelihoods. We will not abandon them. It is the right thing to do.

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for his remarks.

As he probably knows, Christian and Muslim communities, the former under the leadership of the Catholic archbishop and the head of Evangelical churches and the latter under the leadership of the chief imam of the Central African Republic, are making major efforts to achieve reconciliation.

Given that peaceful initiatives are needed within and among communities, does my colleague think that this initiative supported by the Government of Canada could go be considered by the Office of Religious Freedom?

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am really thankful that my colleague raised this point, because that is in fact exactly what the ambassador from the CAR to the U.S. and Canada indicated last week. He was hopeful that he and other leaders in the country could urge the spiritual leaders of the different faith groups within the country to come together and dialogue among themselves as a first step. The bigger step, and the most difficult step, is then to convince their people to lay down their arms and work toward reconciliation.

All of us in this chamber tonight know the value that civil society, faith groups, and volunteer groups in our country contribute to the fabric of our society. Government could never begin to duplicate the work that our civil society and faith groups do within our country. Every one of us sees this when we go back to our ridings on the weekend or during our constituency break weeks. We see the number of volunteer hours and the work that goes into our communities.

We need that same kind of spirit taking hold in the Central African Republic. As I said, the ambassador is encouraging that. I do think that the ambassador of the Office of Religious Freedom here in Canada, Dr. Andrew Bennett, has already made statements to that effect. I think his support and our support will certainly strengthen the hand of those who are trying to work toward reconciliation, and then forgiveness and moving on towards total reconciliation in that country.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Chair, I would like to commend the member for Kitchener—Conestoga for his remarks this evening, both in chronological sequence and substantively. I want to say I enjoyed his presence on our foreign affairs subcommittee on international human rights, and regret that he has gone on to maybe better things.

I want to put a particular question to him that relates to what we have been discussing this evening but goes somewhat beyond it. The member has made reference to atrocities that have been committed. Earlier in the discussion this evening we talked about how these have risen to the level of war crimes and crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, regrettably tragedies that have repeated themselves here in CAR and have occurred elsewhere.

The UN Security Council, of which the member made mention, in 2005 adopted the responsibility to protect doctrine. That doctrine says simply that whenever there is a situation that has risen to the level of war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and, God forbid, genocide, then there is an obligation on behalf of the international community to protect.

The nature of that protection can take various forms. The member made reference to that. It can be humanitarian assistance. It can be diplomatic engagement. It can be political involvement. It can be military intervention, which requires a UN Security Council mandate in certain circumstances.

The importance of the responsibility to protect doctrine as a foundational normative principle, someone referred to it as one of the most important foundational normative principles since the universal declaration to begin with, cannot be overstated.

On Friday I am going to be participating in a colloquium that is being organized by the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights on the whole question of genocide awareness and prevention, responsibility to protect, or R to P, and the like. I suspect I will be asked what I have been asked elsewhere when we have had these colloquia, does the Government of Canada subscribe to the responsibility to protect doctrine?

I would have assumed that this is a given since it is a United Nations Security Council mandate, and we have in the past affirmed it. However, I have not heard reference, and I am being frank about this, from the Conservative government on this point.

I think it is a crucial point. It is not only a question of whether we are partaking of a foundational international protection doctrine, it is also whether we are sharing with those that the member mentioned, others with whom we work in common cause and who do subscribe to that doctrine, and who do ask me whether we subscribe to it. I like to think that we do.

This is not a Liberal doctrine. This is a United Nations Security Council doctrine. This is an international normative doctrine. This is not a matter of partisan party politics.

I put the question specifically and in good faith. Does the government subscribe to the responsibility to protect doctrine as set forth by the United Nations Security Council in 2005 and which we accepted at the time?

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank my very learned colleague who has been in this place for many years and has travelled extensively and probably understands these issues far better than most of us.

However, at this point what is important is that the international community comes together and rather than labelling it a genocide or pre-genocide or any of these labels we can put on it, that it continues to work together to encourage the people there on the ground to work together. As they ask for our assistance, we can come alongside them and try to support their efforts; but for us to take unilateral action or action on our own to interject ourselves into their situation at this point is not the way to go.

I do commend our Minister of Foreign Affairs and our ambassador for religious freedom for the work they are doing, and I remain hopeful that we can continue to work in collaboration with our international partners to find a solution to this problem.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Chair, I want to pick up where my hon. friend from Mount Royal left off, and ask my good friend from Kitchener—Conestoga if there has been a change in government policy. Clearly the responsibility to protect doctrine was explicitly used by the current Conservative administration when the initial action in Libya was supported by Canada. Specifically, responsibility to protect was invoked by the Minister of Foreign Affairs right up to the moment when there seemed to be a mission shift to having to get rid of Gadhafi and no longer being motivated primarily by the need to protect civilian life in the region.

However, I have never heard this particular administration fail to state that responsibility to protect is, as my hon. friend from Mount Royal has said, an important international normative principle to which we all subscribe. Perhaps my hon. friend could just clarify that.

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Mr. Chair, I think we are getting off the central point of the debate tonight. We are here to debate a situation that is occurring in Central African Republic. We have people dying, we have children suffering. Our government has come alongside these groups to try to provide humanitarian assistance. We are going along with UN sanctions as those are put into place, if atrocities are found to have taken place. So it is important that we focus on Central African Republic and the needs of that country right now and what we can do in this particular situation to address those needs.

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Chair, we are here tonight to highlight the seriousness of the crisis that is unfolding in the Central African Republic.

I would also like to take this opportunity to draw the government's attention to the issues at play and to what it needs to do to help come up with a solution that is consistent with Canada's humanitarian tradition.

Before getting to the heart of the matter, I would like to echo the statement made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs on February 7 condemning sectarian violence and demanding that security be restored in the Central African Republic.

These are steps that must be taken in order to restore peace and start rebuilding. The fact that Canada is heading in that direction is a good thing.

However, as welcome as those words may be, they are not nearly enough. As we are comfortably debating the crisis in the Central African Republic, over there, blood is being spilled and the body count continues to rise.

That is why the NDP is calling on the government to take responsibility and to take a more decisive role in resolving the conflict. The reality of the situation, its dramatic escalation and the regional impact of the crisis leave us no choice but to intervene.

The result of the wait-and-see approach Canada has taken for more than a year is truly terrifying. After months of violence at the hands of predominantly Muslim Seleka fighters, Christian militias calling themselves anti-balaka went on the offensive in September of last year.

Originally designed as self-defence groups around the time of former president François Bozizé's overthrow, these anti-balaka militias are now taking unspeakable retaliatory action against Muslim minorities in the north.

NGOs have documented truly horrifying accounts of atrocities committed by both sides. Human Rights Watch released a detailed and comprehensive report on the massacres that have been carried out; I would like to draw your attention to these massacres.

Women and children in particular are systematically targeted, as we saw during the civil war that ravaged the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and as is commonplace in these kinds of conflicts.

The rape and mutilation of women and children are now being used as weapons of war. Belligerents deliberately target these innocent victims in the most despicable ways, leaving terror and destruction in their wake.

The situation continues to worsen in the Central African Republic, even though a transitional government has taken over, led by President Catherine Samba-Panza.

In the past few days, a hundred more people have been killed. A parliamentarian was even the victim of a cowardly assassination a few hours after he denounced all instances of interfaith violence. However, the massacres represent only a small part of what is going on in the Central African Republic.

There are now 825,000 refugees and displaced persons in this country of 5 million, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It has also indicated that 60% of them are children. More than half of these refugees are in the vicinity of Bangui. They are in need of everything: water, shelter, food, primary care. Two hundred and fifty-six thousand refugees have already fled to neighbouring countries that are very unstable themselves.

Without a real assessment of the security situation, it will be hard to find a solution to the devastating catastrophe in the Central African Republic.

We need to take action to secure the situation. African peacekeeping forces need help protecting civilians. The need for help is even more evident if we recall the Kosovo crisis, when 7,000 men were deployed to Mitrovica, a city of 100,000 people.

This crisis is exacerbating the situation in an already unstable region. Countries surrounding the CAR, in particular the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan, are struggling with political crises and civil wars that are seriously compromising the stability of the region.

The fear is that this new surge of violence could trigger a regional conflict that could have disastrous consequences. That is why we must act now to stabilize this country.

To date, Canada has provided $6.9 million in humanitarian aid for the people of the Central African Republic. Yesterday, the government announced an additional $5 million in financial aid. Although necessary, these measures will not be enough to significantly change the situation.

In November 2013, the NDP asked the government to provide diplomatic and logistical support for the peacekeeping force so that it could end the conflict and human rights violations. Only a political solution can resolve the crisis by bringing together all those involved in the conflict and settling their differences. A political solution is the only way to achieve real and lasting peace.

That is why Canada must support the democratic transitional government led by Catherine Samba-Panza. We must also help implement the UN Security Council resolutions that call for democratic elections to be held in February 2015.

To that end, we are asking that short- and long-term observers be deployed through the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development's CANADEM program. These elections cannot be held in proper conditions until order is restored and the militias have laid down their weapons. There are simple ways to encourage them to do so.

For instance, Seleka soldiers should be integrated into the regular army. The army should also be paid. That would make it possible to stabilize the situation and to inject money into the local economy, which sorely needs it. A few million dollars might be enough to start restoring order.

Furthermore, this outbreak of violence is the result of a political crisis rooted in this country's extreme poverty and underdevelopment. It is imperative to tackle the root causes of the destabilization. Otherwise, any assistance we may send will be in vain in the long term.

Canada must get involved in the economic development of African countries. To that end, it must ensure that its partnerships with Canadian industries that extract raw materials allow for a fair distribution of profits to the local people, not just to the elite in those countries and to company shareholders.

Finally, we in the NDP call on Canada to sign the Arms Trade Treaty in order to prevent conventional weapons from fuelling conflicts.

Let me remind hon. members that, in a similar conflict that affected a neighbouring country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the combatants did not use any heavy weapons or weapons of mass destruction. However, the civil war that ravaged that country between 1998 and 2002 killed over 3 million people. It is the deadliest conflict since World War II.

It is therefore imperative to take every possible measure to put an end to small arms trade and trafficking. If we do not make an effort to do so, conditions will continue to exist so that political crises in African countries turn into civil wars time after time.

Those are the main actions that Canada should take to alleviate the humanitarian crisis right away and to strengthen the peace process in the longer term.

I urge the government to take these simple measures. They will send a strong message of support to the people of the Central African Republic and will mitigate the overall factors that lead to crises in Africa in the long term.

The gravity of the situation, our country's history and our humanist values require us to act. Let us not stand by and watch.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Chair, Canada can play an important role in the EU deployment to the Central African Republic, which has been officially agreed to. We have a framework agreement with the EU to participate in European crisis management operations and should engage with our partners through this to help our European friends and allies protect civilians in the Central African Republic and restore security.

Does the member think that Canada can have a significant impact in bolstering the EU force, for example, through providing equipment and logistical or financial support?

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for her question.

Canada has a huge role to play, obviously. As a strong country, a strong advocate for peace that has taken an active role in previous conflicts, Canada must fully take its place when conflicts emerge.

In this case, the government is called on to stand by the African Union forces and to take action, as other countries, including France, have already done. I believe Canada needs to play an active role.

[Marc-André Morin, NDP, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Mr. Chair, I am pondering some rather deep questions. One has to wonder whether all those rich countries that have exploited Africa for hundreds of years are now in a state of moral collapse.

African products are worth hundreds of billions of dollars a year. Everyone has coltan that was extracted by children in African mines. All of this wealth is controlled by criminals who order massacres all over the place. Now that something needs to be done to help people out, the rich industrialized countries that benefit from Africa's bounty should all step in and put an end to the slaughter.

In Rwanda, 700 or 800 well-armed men might have been able to stop the massacre in a few hours, as General Dallaire used to say. We see how things are shaping up; there is no end in sight. Many people seem to think, like Joseph Stalin, that “when one person dies, it is a tragedy; when millions die, it is a statistic”. I would like my colleague to comment on that.

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for the question.

As I said in my speech, I wholeheartedly think that Africa is not doomed, in that certain things can truly be prevented. We are well aware that in African countries, a combination of a number of factors can ignite things quickly and significantly.

I am thinking of extreme poverty, overpopulation, lack of education, and so forth. My colleague also raised the issue of morality. Indeed, we know that Canada is one of those countries whose economy benefits from this resource extraction.

However, when will we stop and think that this mineral extraction sector of the economy must stop being used to ignite and fuel conflicts?

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Chair, I remember when I used to be responsible for human security at the Department of Foreign Affairs, and I remember all the work we used to do with women on conflict prevention, conflict resolution, reconciliation and dialogue.

Earlier, someone pointed out and it should be noted that the Central African Republic has a female president. Nonetheless, besides the female president, I wondered if my colleague saw an opportunity or a particular role for Central African women in the effort that should be made to resolve this conflict and restore peace.