Evidence of meeting #6 for Afghanistan in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was afghan.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
Thank you, Chair.
I think Ambassador Sirrs was answering my question.
Former Ambassador of Canada to Afghanistan, Global Affairs Canada
Thank you very much, Chair.
To recap quickly, in 2013, there was an immigration program, a special program, for interpreters with the Canadian military. That program ran its course.
When I arrived in 2014, it appeared that there were those who had missed out and had appealed for another round of the program. At that time, Ambassador Lyons and I made a recommendation to Ottawa to elevate this at the CIC, at that time, to basically see if there was an opportunity to open the program again. The minister at the time decided that, no, sufficient time had been granted, and so the matter wasn't pursued any further.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
So we could have actually gotten those people out sooner if we'd increased the numbers, but it was a decision by the government not to pursue it. Is that right?
Former Ambassador of Canada to Afghanistan, Global Affairs Canada
I can't say how many we would have got out—
Former Ambassador of Canada to Afghanistan, Global Affairs Canada
—but there may have been an opportunity to get some more people out of the country at that time, yes.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
Okay, thank you.
Chair, how much time do I have left, because I lost some time there.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
Okay.
Mr. Shariff, you talked about how you have 10,000 staff. It's obvious that you have quite a lot of experience and a large footprint on the ground in Afghanistan.
We know that the Taliban is preventing unaccompanied women from leaving the country. Do you have any suggestions for how we can get around this?
Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan Foundation Canada
In all candour, our focus is to figure out a way to operate in the country for the people who are remaining there.
Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan Foundation Canada
As you know, there are tens of millions of Afghans who will continue to remain in the country indefinitely. I really don't think I can add very much to that difficult question.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Michael Chong
Thank you, Madame Damoff, and Mr. Shariff.
Mr. Brunelle‑Duceppe, you have six minutes.
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank our witnesses for taking part in this extremely important study. I would also like to thank Ambassador Sirrs for his service to the country in what is understandably an extremely difficult context.
Mr. Shariff, you seem to be in contact with a number of non‑governmental organizations, or NGOs, and a number of people working in the humanitarian sector. We've had representatives of some NGOs appear before the committee. They told us that it was difficult for them to work on the ground in Afghanistan because of the Canadian Criminal Code and the fact that the Taliban are considered terrorists. They are afraid of being prosecuted.
Have you heard about this problem?
Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan Foundation Canada
Thank you very much, Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe.
It is a very serious question and a very serious problem. One thing I hope the committee might look at with some focus is how we can create a predictable, enduring and flexible framework for Canadian actors, the government and others, to operate in the country.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Some people have told us that a motion, for example, could be moved in the House of Commons, asking for unanimous consent. The motion would propose that NGOs should not be prosecuted if they continue their extremely important work on the ground.
Do you think that's a good idea?
Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan Foundation Canada
Mr. Chairman, my sense is that we're going to have to have a pretty robust set of responses to this. We basically have a situation where we have a policy agreement that we should mount a very significant response and a legal impediment to doing so. We need to bridge that gap. I think we have to ask Parliament to act in probably a series of ways, but what I would say is that this should be an enduring fix. It shouldn't be a short-term fix. It should be an enduring fix, because this is likely to be a situation that we're going to confront for some time.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Thank you, Mr. Shariff.
On August 25, 2021, your organization, the Aga Khan Foundation Canada, said that it would ensure “ongoing coordination with the authorities, local communities, donor agencies, and other stakeholders who have supported AKDN's programs and initiatives…”.
Mr. Shariff, is your organization required to work with the Taliban right now?
Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan Foundation Canada
Mr. Chairman, we are present in the country, as I've indicated. Our posture has been from the very beginning to be proactively communicative, to be transparent and open, with the de facto authorities about what we're doing and why. This allows us to continue to operate in the country and to safeguard our staff and our beneficiaries. That's something we're going to continue having to do.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Thank you, Mr. Shariff, for what your organization is doing. We are extremely grateful.
Mr. Sirrs, on August 15, 2021, Canada suspended operations at its embassy in Kabul and repatriated its diplomatic staff.
Why did Canada decide not to allow embassy officials at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul during evacuation operations?
Former Ambassador of Canada to Afghanistan, Global Affairs Canada
Thank you very much, honourable member Brunelle-Duceppe.
On the 15th of August it was a very chaotic day. When we actually were preparing to leave to go into the airport compound, it was evident that a lot was going on. We could hear explosions. We could see fires all over the city. When we came into the military side of the airport itself, it was very obvious that the city was coming under siege. It became evident to us that a whole bunch of chaotic activity was taking place and that it was going to escalate and grow quite a bit.
Therefore, for us when it came down the question of why not leave anybody behind, at the time it looked like the whole airport was going to be overrun. We saw a lot of military aircraft coming in and off-loading equipment and military personnel, and to us it just seemed to be far too dangerous for us to stay put and leave anybody in harm's way—at least until we could get a sense of what was going to happen to the airport.
As we all saw on the TV, there were two planes after ours where people were hanging off the airplanes and fell. It was quite close for us and I think at the time the decision was the right one to make to pull all Canadians out so we that could actually go back in and continue the effort afterwards.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
That is understandable. I don't think anyone here would have liked to be in your position. Once again, I tip my hat to you.
What impact did the closure of the embassy have on Canada's evacuation plan?
