Thanks.
Thank you for coming today.
Every year, I think, this has been an issue in the foreign affairs committee: a motion comes up, or a study, or a hope for travel; different things have caused us to take a look at this.
There's a lot of optimism in Juba. There's a lot of optimism in the south. There is all this great expectancy. But there's also remarkable.... Last year was the worst drought they'd ever seen. The harvest was one of the poorest ever.
I guess my question is on what both Mr. Rae and Mr. Dewar asked. First of all, there is the capacity of governance. This, to me, has to be.... I think the referendum, even though it's behind, is going to go. The north will probably do everything to disrupt it. They're going to question the validity of it. They're going to question the people who are taking part in the referendum. Right now they're probably denying that there's much chance that they're going to leave. I mean, they think they have it so good, I suppose. I don't know what the north is thinking, but they'll disrupt the process as it gets closer.
In the south--I don't know if it was in what you read or in another briefing--there is 85% illiteracy. In your talk, Ms. Stirk, you said that southern Sudan is already highly autonomous and that if the people of south Sudan choose independence, very few additional powers will flow to Juba. Could you enlarge on that statement? We would expect that if they choose to separate, we would hope that a lot of extra power and resources would flow into the south.
What would Canada's specific role be with governance, and what would Canada's continuing role, if any, be in the north? I mean governance to the south; how would we help a country with 85% illiteracy build capacity to govern another country that's going to bear the brunt of, not necessarily militarily attacks, but of attacks from many of the countries around, maybe even targeting those who are migrating back to the south? The people coming back and overflowing Juba will be a huge dynamic as well, and no extra powers will be given to Juba.