Afghanistan Committee on April 4th, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Ten seconds, Minister.

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

We are supporting neighbouring countries, Mr. Chair, but also one of the things that's probably most important is we're strongly advocating with our like-minded partners to make sure that there is no restriction of girls going to school. Even going up to grade 12 is not acceptable to us; it has to be unconditional.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you, Madam Zahid.

Now we'll go to Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe, for two and a half minutes.

Please go ahead.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to come back to the issue of NGOs that are unable to do their work properly because of Canadian laws.

Mr. Chair, I feel like I am in one of those movies where politicians gathered around a table, in committee, are saying they are assessing the situation, finding solutions and considering all the options available. We are now in that movie, and we are looking for solutions. During this time, families in Afghanistan are deciding what child to sell to be able to feed their other children. Men, women, children and grandparents are dying of hunger. Hunger is widespread in Afghanistan.

Can the minister tell the committee how much longer he will be assessing the situation? How long will he work on finding solutions?

Can he tell NGOs when he will help them and find a real concrete solution for the Afghans on the ground, in Afghanistan?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Minister, go ahead, please.

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Mr. Chair, first of all I just want to reiterate that even the current laws are not preventing us from providing the humanitarian support that is needed on the ground. That will continue.

In terms of NGOs not being able to do their work in Afghanistan because of the current laws we have, as I said, I can't give a timeline. One thing I can assure the member and everyone here is that our department is working with Justice and Public Safety to figure out the best step to move forward.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

With all due respect, Mr. Chair, I volunteer. If the minister would like to spend the night working to find solutions, I am ready to support him.

I will give the rest of my speaking time to someone else, as I have heard enough.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you very much for your suggestion, Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe.

Minister, you have 30 seconds to respond.

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Mr. Chair, I'm always happy to accept any member of Parliament willing to offer advice on how we can do our job better.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you.

You have 25 seconds, Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

In that case, Minister, I will go to your office when it's convenient for you, and I promise you that I will propose a solution pretty quickly.

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

I look forward to it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you very much, Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe.

Now we will proceed to Madam Kwan for two and a half minutes, please.

Go ahead.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Just to add to that, I've also written to the minister on the same issue. I've yet to receive a response. I think it was back in February when the letter was sent. I'd be happy to offer suggestions as to what the minister and government can do to address this urgent situation.

I'd like to ask the minister a question. Witnesses mentioned that there were flights that left in the evacuation process that were half empty. I wonder if the minister can provide this committee with information on the number of flights that left in the evacuation where seats were left unfilled and how many of those seats were on each of those flights. Can we have that information tabled to the committee, please?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Mr. Chair, one thing I can say is that, in times of crisis like this, a lot of the decision-making is to make sure that the people on the ground have the appropriate delegation authority to make those decisions. I also just want to take the opportunity to thank the Canadian Armed Forces for the tremendous work they did in extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

I'm not the minister of defence now, and those requests will have to flow through Minister Anand.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I'm trying to get the stats on how many flights were evacuated, how many seats were on those flights and how many of those seats were filled with people. Then from there, of the people who filled the seats, how many of them were Afghan nationals and how many of them were people who worked for the embassy or were Canadian workers? Can we have that information tabled for the committee?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Minister, you have 35 seconds to respond.

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Mr. Chair, that information is held within the Ministry of Defence.

One thing I can say is that creating that air bridge was extremely important, that work that Canada did to bring that together. Our folks on the ground did amazing work to get many people out. I just want to take this opportunity again to commend them. Every single day, to be able to witness the tremendous work that they did—

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you, Minister.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Madam Kwan, your time is up.

We'll come back to the next round now. We have three minutes each. First I will go to Madam Findlay for three minutes, then Mr. El-Khoury for three minutes, and that will end the round.

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, I'd like to give the minister an opportunity to flesh this out a bit. My question to the minister is whether he was directly involved with any flights, Canadian or allied flights, that left Afghanistan that were not full.

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Mr. Chair, I do not recall the manifest or number of people in each aircraft. One thing I can say for certain is that our folks on the ground were trying to get as many people out as quickly as possible. The decisions they made I know were made with that intention in mind. Again, I want to thank them for the work that they did.

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Chair, in this committee we're well aware of the chaos that was happening at the airport and with the evacuation generally. I think we all are very grateful for those who created those air bridges and the work they did.

These questions, of course, are about the ones left behind. Although many were brought out, many were left behind. We've heard that there are identifiable groups that got left behind, such as women judges or some ethnic minorities such as Sikh community members.

Was any work done, specifically by this minister, to try to get those specific groups out?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Mr. Chair, I'm glad the member raised it. Trying to get vulnerable groups out was a priority for us. Our folks on the ground were taking every opportunity they could.

We were successful in some cases. We weren't successful in others. I think the members know and I, personally, know well what was taking place on the ground. Our folks did just tremendously amazing things to make this happen, while putting themselves at risk.

When it comes to your question on vulnerable groups, yes. It was not just those two groups, but many others as well.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Honourable member, you have 50 seconds still.