Afghanistan Committee on April 4th, 2022

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

I continued to work, yes.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Okay.

The last Canadian flight from Kabul left on August 26. Who made the decision that it would be the last flight to depart from Kabul?

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

All the decisions are based on the military advice that is provided. Based on the military advice, that was the decision that was made.

Remember, Mr. Chair, we weren't working alone. We were working with a lot of our allies and coordinating with many nations in very close proximity. It was extremely complicated. That coordination had to be done. The decision was made once—

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

A lot of allies were involved in the evacuation. I understand. NATO allies were involved, so there were different flights from different member states of NATO departing from Kabul trying to evacuate some 70,000 people in the latter half of August of last year.

Were you involved with the coordination of any flights that departed from Hamid Karzai airport with empty seats—either Canadian planes or planes of allies?

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

I'm not sure what involvement you're—

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

There were reports of flights that were leaving from—

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Excuse me, let the minister finish.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

He asked me to clarify, so I'm clarifying.

There were flights that left from Hamid Karzai International Airport that were not full flights. There were empty seats on these flights.

I'm asking you, Minister, if you were involved with the coordination of the passengers for those seats on any of those flights that departed Kabul in August of last year?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

I'm sorry, Minister. His time is up. We'll come back to this again.

Thank you, Honourable Chong.

We'll go to Madam Zahid for five minutes.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Thanks, Minister, for appearing before the committee.

Minister, we have heard very powerful testimony at this committee about the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and the challenges of delivering the aid to the most in need. I was really glad to see the announcement last week that Canada has committed an additional $50 million in humanitarian aid, raising Canada's total commitment for humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan and the neighbouring countries to $143 million.

I would like to ask about the $93 million that was previously announced. How much of that money has actually flowed? Where have we delivered it? How is that money being used?

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

Mr. Chair, if I can have my deputy minister answer that question in more detail, it would be more appropriate.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

As long as, Madam Zahid, you don't have any objection.

Go ahead.

[Christopher MacLennan]

Thank you very much.

The humanitarian aid flows on an ongoing basis. We work directly with partners to ensure that we release the money to them on a time scale that makes sense for them in terms of the procurement of the goods that they are providing, and also their ability to get it into the country. As our principal partners with the first tranches of humanitarian assistance we were using the World Food Programme, as has been mentioned earlier. The critical importance of the food security situation in Afghanistan has been recognized, given the fact that there are upwards of 22 million people who are in need of food assistance, some of them in very dire situations. So the World Food Programme is one of the very first choices there.

A second organization that we work with very closely is UNICEF. UNICEF provides dedicated supports for food security, including the ready-to-use packets that are required for children.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Of this $93 million, all that money has flowed out in the form of humanitarian aid—

[Christopher MacLennan]

Yes.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

—the $93 million that was previously announced?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

If you can come through the chair, we would really appreciate it.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Sorry, Chair.

Through the chair, we have the terrorism provisions in the Criminal Code that relate to the Taliban. Could you clarify how the laws in the other countries are different and why the Taliban are able to work around them. Could you shed some light on that?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Madam, are you okay with the deputy minister answering?

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Yes.

[Christopher MacLennan]

As I mentioned previously, this is actual Canadian national law. Every single country has its own national frameworks for managing terrorist financing. Within each of those individual frameworks, some countries have put in special measures that allow them to permit things such as a licencing scheme or a way of permitting certain activities that otherwise would be deemed to be a contravention of the code.

On the individual examples of that, I'm not an expert on other countries' terrorist financing, criminal and otherwise, national frameworks, but fundamentally, that's what it is. They have a mechanism of some sort that permits them to do it.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you.

Through the chair, what is Canada doing to support women's rights advocacy within Afghanistan? Can I ask the minister to please answer that.

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

Mr. Chair, through you, this is something that we have raised in every conversation we have with any partner that's going to be working in Afghanistan. In fact, we are funding three different organizations that focus strictly on this; one is War Child Canada, and there's Relief International and the UNFPA. All our work emphasizes making sure that all our support goes out in an equitable fashion, making sure that there's an equal distribution for women and girls and minority groups across the country.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Forty-five seconds, Madam.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you.

My next question is around women's education.

Minister, supporting the right for women and girls to have equal access to education is a cornerstone of Canada's feminist foreign policy. Your department funds programs around the world to help women and girls get an education. Many of my constituents are fundraising to sponsor female students to attend the Bayan institute of higher education and other institutions. What is Canada doing to support women's education in Afghanistan as well as ensuring women and girls who are refugees in neighbouring countries can have access to schooling?