Thank you, Parliamentary Secretary.
I stated, right at the outset, when the first question was put to me, that, in actual fact, we are not talking about a reduction in CIDA's activities. When the first question was put to me by the member, I stated that, on the contrary, in some priority areas such as education, there had even been a significant increase in assistance from Canada.
Indeed, the Burkinan government has three social sector priorities: education, health care and matters relating to governance and gender. In those three areas, particularly education, CIDA has made an important contribution in recent years. Indeed, the increased contribution I referred to was due to our actions in the education sector, which is a priority. Having been Minister of Health for six and a half years, I know that Canada, either directly or through its contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, has taken a number of actions that made it possible to fund the health sector.
Also, with respect to good governance, the Canadian government—and I said that here—has supported us, particularly during the 2005 presidential elections. What I said, Mr. Abbott,—and you were kind enough to point out that we had met—is that there was definitely a communication problem. We have to resolve that problem because, we had understood that this was not a positive signal. A country that is making a considerable effort to meet the millennium goals, which has productive relations with respect to private investment and, in addition to all of that, is Canada's friend and uses its own resources, in some cases, to ensure the safety of that country's nationals or to find a way to secure their safety, is not a country that deserves to be left with the impression that its relations have deteriorated to the point where it should no longer be on the list.
You provided an explanation and said that, in fact, this was not a final decision. I believe I was satisfied with the answer you gave me. In terms of information regarding CIDA's education-related activities, I have just provided that to you.