Foreign Affairs committee  We are a church organization. In Rome, there is a group of 20 Catholic organizations from around the world and discussing what is happening in Iraq, Syria and everywhere in the Middle East. We share the work. As I said earlier, we have three offices on the ground. The offices d

Foreign Affairs committee  Whether in the United States or in Canada, our campaigns are targeted completely to Canadians and Americans. In Canada, my job is to raise the public's awareness as much as possible and to raise funds from foundations, dioceses, individuals and groups. So far, we have raised ab

Foreign Affairs committee  I'll let Father Mallon answer first.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. There are a few things. A lot of food is being provided by the Kurdistan government, the Iraqi government. The food comes in packages. It's not exactly what you always need. There's no baby food, baby formula, things like this that would help the youth. I mentioned a

Foreign Affairs committee  It's a very big question because, when you look at education in a normal setting, education does its job. You know, “I want to become a doctor, a nurse, or an engineer. I want to help society, I want to contribute, and I want my family to be able to live well, my kids to go to sc

Foreign Affairs committee  Okay. Traditionally, our aid goes through the local church. We trust them. We trust them on the ground. They're local. They know everybody in their towns. Everybody knows them. The trust is there, and they have a very good system to evaluate the needs of each family, and they kno

Foreign Affairs committee  I don't think it's about the persecution of minorities. It's about the persecution of anybody who doesn't think like them. Unfortunately, it looks much worse to minorities because they cannot defend themselves. Not being able to defend yourself, you have to flee. That's what happ

Foreign Affairs committee  There has to be a concerted effort, not only by the Iraqi people. If we look at the last three years, when Maliki took control of the Iraqi government, his whole premise was revenge on the Sunni Arabs who had persecuted the Shiite for so long. That created a bit of the mess we're

Foreign Affairs committee  No problem. That's good, sure.

Foreign Affairs committee  Do you want to say something or do you want me to go ahead, Father Elias?

Foreign Affairs committee  If we look at the immediate issue, we had a team that went there last week. We go there regularly working with the local church and the way it's happening, there are two things. First the Kurdistan—since you've been there, I'm sure you will appreciate this—is a world in itself.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for the invitation to appear here at this committee. I will speak in English just so that my colleague in New York is familiar with what I'm saying. He understands French, but being far away in New York who knows if he'll be able to hear everyth