Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  We value the dialogue and the opportunity to learn from others in this space. Whenever I talk to any of my team who are making a speech or something, I always say they need to include the “What?”, the “So what?” and the “Now what?” The “What?” is really a better understanding of what the situation is, to help understand the implications for our work.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'll build on what my colleague just said, because I think it's really critical. For many years, that is exactly what we have done in our long-term development community-based work. Instead of making a decision at the top with respect to what is needed to make a difference in the context of communities in need, we have listened to their needs and identified their strengths and opportunities.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  You're right about all those elements of intersectionality. I would add some additional ones. For example, I would add conflict-affected countries, more fragile contexts, marginalized populations and displaced people. In terms of our experience in francophone, anglophone or other language contexts, our operating model is very similar.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  With respect to Afghanistan, the efforts on Bill C-41, particularly the humanitarian exemption, have certainly opened up the opportunity for us to continue to do the work there. There are still some matters that are being worked out in terms of the details of that, but our commitment is to release funding to ensure that it is reaching the most vulnerable in that context.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you, Chair and committee members, for inviting World Vision to contribute to this important conversation. I'm joined by my colleague Tiyahna Ridley-Padmore, who brings a policy background in education and social inclusion. For over 70 years, World Vision has operated as a relief, development and advocacy organization delivering programs and insights in stable and fragile contexts.

Afghanistan committee  As I said, we've had constructive dialogue for several months now. A number of parts of government have been seized with this issue, but we have not yet resolved it. It goes back to, certainly, the fall since we've had conversations around the possibility of raising this issue. World Vision along with other organizations has raised this and has had this ongoing dialogue.

Afghanistan committee  As I said, we've had back-and-forth constructive conversations. We've raised a number of the issues and the need for an exemption or guidelines exactly as you suggest. We have been received with great interest. We understand that various ministers, including Minister Sajjan in Global Affairs, have been focused on this, but to date we have not yet received any guidelines that would allow us to release the funding or the goods that we mentioned before that we'd like to get to Afghanistan.

Afghanistan committee  This is a challenging question. I'm going to ask Ms. McKinlay to answer since she is closer to what's happening on the ground.

Afghanistan committee  Yes, as I mentioned, we've had constructive dialogue on this, including proposing a number of options and sharing an external legal opinion that would suggest that section 83.09 of the Criminal Code may allow the Minister of Public Safety to carve out an exemption. We think we should look pragmatically at how that can happen.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the question. Yes, as you know, we have had constructive dialogue on the issue for several months now at various levels of government, from the responsible desk officers at Global Affairs to joint organizations and meetings with others. You're right.

Afghanistan committee  We can certainly provide some examples of what's happening elsewhere, as well as some of our positions and the legal counsel that we've received on how we may be able to get around the current limitations on our activities here in Canada, both in the short term and the longer term.

Afghanistan committee  I'm going to ask my colleague who is the expert on this, Ms. McKinlay, to answer that question on our behalf.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for inviting World Vision Canada to contribute today. I'm joined by my colleague Julie McKinlay, who is our liaison with our colleagues in Afghanistan. World Vision began emergency relief operations in Afghanistan in 2001. More than a decade later, our programs have expanded to sectors that include health, nutrition and child protection.

Foreign Affairs committee  You're absolutely right that not only are we seeing anecdotally that Canadians are generous and are interested in what's going on beyond their borders, but we have data like the survey that you referenced. Canadians understand that the needs are significant, thinking about the needs of a girl in a refugee camp in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or other places.

Foreign Affairs committee  First of all, I think at the moment all of us would say, in our humanitarian development response, that the line between what is COVID response and what is not COVID response is pretty blurred, because everything is so interconnected as we think about what this looks like. It not only speaks to the need for additional funding, but I think you're actually raising a question that speaks to the way our system is built, where it's difficult sometimes to be flexible in the funding that we have allocated to be able to respond so that we can not only focus on the initial needs—and we're fairly locked into that in our agreements with governments and donors—but also be able to be agile as well.