Foreign Affairs Committee on March 26th, 2015

[Janine Maxwell]

It was high, but now there's this prevention of mother-to-child transmission program. I know that some of your funding goes to that. What it is doing to that country is a miracle. I applaud all the dollars you give to that. I'll give you an example.

I would guess that 60% to 70% of our children are exposed at birth, so that means there's a chance that as they come out of the birth canal they're exposed to it if the mother is positive. We do a rapid test. If we find the baby and we don't know the mother, we do a rapid test immediately, and if the child is positive we start treatment immediately, that day, with nevirapine, which lasts for six weeks.

If we know that the mother is HIV-positive—because they test her right before birth and on her card it says “exposed”—we immediately start the child. On this guess that 60% to 70% of our children are exposed, only 10% of our children are HIV-positive, so it's a miracle drug.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

That's amazing.

It sounds like the government of Swaziland is making a sincere effort—

[Janine Maxwell]

Absolutely.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

—to get their act together.

I don't know much about Swaziland. How stable is the government of Swaziland? Is it going to be there for a while?

[Janine Maxwell]

It's the last absolute monarchy on the continent, so King Mswati is the absolute ruler. He does have a British parliamentary system, so there's a cabinet that's been appointed and there is a parliament underneath them. It's an African country.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

So the king is supreme, not parliament.

[Janine Maxwell]

The king is supreme.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

How old is the king?

[Janine Maxwell]

He's 45.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

So he's outlived most of his countrymen.

[Janine Maxwell]

He's outlived most of his countrymen, yes.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Is there a succession plan of some kind?

[Janine Maxwell]

It's not known to the public. When his father passed away.... It's not like in England, where we know who's next in line, or we think we know. It's not known to the public, but within the confines of the royal family and the government, they would know.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Do you ever get to have contact with him?

[Janine Maxwell]

We do. He's very accessible. If anyone were to come there from Canada, he would welcome you with open arms. He's a very kind man. We've met with him once at his palace and at the Royal Kraal, as it's called, where his mother lives, the queen mother. We also have regular interaction with members of parliament. They're very, very supportive of us and when they come out to see what we're doing, they are all in tears. There's not a dry eye, because they see that it's a magical place.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

So he's that rare benevolent dictator. The best form of government, in my view, is a benevolent dictatorship, but you have to find that benevolent dictator.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

He sounds like he might be one of those.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Mr. Hawn, that's all the time we have.

We're going to start the third round.

Mr. Schellenberger, you have five minutes.

[Gary Schellenberger, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you very much for your testimony here this morning. It's wonderful.

As a faith-based organization, have you experienced any difficulties in providing aid in Africa?

[Ian Maxwell]

Not in being a faith-based organization, no. There are a lot of challenges providing aid in Africa, but that is not one of them.

[Gary Schellenberger, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

That's not one of them.

[Janine Maxwell]

They're very welcoming to faith-based organizations.

[Gary Schellenberger, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

There's one thing I'd like to say. I know that hard-boiled eggs can be kept for an extended period of time, and I know that the Egg Farmers of Canada have hard-boiled eggs in refrigeration. I buy them at different times. There's a dozen in a package, and they'll have a best before date, and for a month or month and a half they'll stay good in the fridge.

In Africa, they don't have the same refrigeration. Is there a way to keep eggs for an extended period of time in that type of heat and weather?

[A voice]

Pickled.