Thank you, Mr. Van Kesteren, and thank you, Mr. Chair.
I have two what may seem unrelated questions, but I think they wrap into each other.
First of all, how porous are the other borders around Sudan? Nine countries are touched on.
Second, when I was in Benin just recently, about a month ago, we had a conversation with their elections process agency. I asked them what form of identification they used for their election process. They really don't have one. Anybody who contributes a list of names, they go on the election list.
My question was, “How do you know whether people have voted in one jurisdiction or another; do you keep a record?” Well, they don't really know. They don't have that sophisticated a system yet, nor do they register births, so they don't have either a national identity card or a birth registration card, because they're not sure if babies are going to live to their fifth year. We're working hard to combat that.
When I was also in Zambia last year, they told us that Elections Canada was working with their election process to build capacity in the country and to ensure that fair and open and transparent elections took place. Are we providing that same kind of support in Sudan? Is that something we're moving towards? I know that you said here that the preparations for the south Sudan referendum are far behind schedule. Is that an area where Canada can really help and really help build capacity?