Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. First and foremost, it's a very difficult problem. There's no getting around the fact that the presence of small arms on the ground in Darfur, and frankly all over Sudan, is huge and constitutes a problem, a threat to the security of the people there. One

Foreign Affairs committee  First of all, there is not a logjam in our provision of resources to the African Union, but the logistics and the structures that are in place that would ensure a free flow—a free pipeline, our development colleagues would call it—of resources into the field are not always straig

Foreign Affairs committee  That's the idea right now. There is a tradition already established in a number of different situations where a regional organization that has commanded a peace operation on the ground has transitioned into a UN-commanded mission. For example, the multinational interim force in H

Foreign Affairs committee  The peace operations force--the military and the police and the diplomatic efforts--are commanded by the AU at the moment. The UN will have a unified system--chain of command, command and control systems--in place so that UN officials will be commanding the forces. But Canada is

Foreign Affairs committee  I think that's entirely right. UN peacekeeping is in its 50th year. We're in the anniversary year at the moment, and we and our other partners--the UN Secretariat, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, and UN troop contributors--are still working to improve their operations.

Foreign Affairs committee  There are many different Security Council resolutions, over time, that are not fully implemented. Frankly, returning to the earlier question from our chairman, the key is to try to work collectively with all of the countries that we can to bring pressure on the Government of Suda

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, my answer actually would be no. With respect to our engagement with the African Union, for example, when we approach the African Union as an organization bilaterally, we're only speaking on behalf of Canada, one portion of the donor effort. We're much more effective w

Foreign Affairs committee  With respect to the specialists, you'll note in the speech that we've said explicitly civilian police and military. As it stands right now, the type of specialist expertise that the UN may be asking us for won't necessarily draw directly from the Canadian Forces. We have an opti

Foreign Affairs committee  We have pushed very strongly in Canada for a transition to a UN mission for a number of reasons. There are simple economies of scale that will be brought about by consolidating all the international peace operations' efforts inside Sudan under one chain of command, one logistical

Foreign Affairs committee  The only thing I would add quickly is that as you very well know—and it's important for us all to remember—there already is a UN force in the south of Sudan with 10,000 military members. The Government of Sudan has accepted international troops being on its territory so far. The

Foreign Affairs committee  The second issue that's important to remember is that as it stands right now, the African Union force is on the ground. It is making a difference. It's not perfect, it's not completely stopping the violence, but it is having an effect on the ground. There are areas of Darfur that

Foreign Affairs committee  Our efforts have to try to ensure the implementation of that agreement and help the parties where we can.