Evidence of meeting #114 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was sudan.
A recording is available from Parliament.
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Director, Global Programs and Impact, International Operations and Programs, CARE Canada
They're without family, yes.
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Mr. Michael Levitt (York Centre, Lib.)
Thank you.
We will now move to MP Baylis, please.
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Frank Baylis Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.
Thank you, Chair.
It's very sobering testimony, but it's probably necessary to set it in place.
This peace accord was signed in August, I believe.
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Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.
It was September, and it wouldn't be the first or second time if it were to fail, correct?
Do you have a specific belief this is more likely to stick? You prioritized one, two, three things, and I think they're excellent, but is there not work that we should be doing to make this hold, quite frankly, even while people starve? If you lose peace, you're back to square one. Are you feeling very confident that this is a different deal?
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Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children Canada
Am I very confident? No. The specific difference between this deal and other deals is the sponsorship of the President of Sudan and the President of Uganda for the deal. In the past, the political wild card in any peace deal was the active role of Sudan, the competition over oil, the tense relations between Sudan and South Sudan, and the ability of sometimes small, sometimes mid-sized, military groups to go and seek support from Sudan.
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Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.
So Sudan might have been purposely undermining any peace for their own personal interests?
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Director, Global Programs and Impact, International Operations and Programs, CARE Canada
Yes.
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Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.
One thing, for example, Canada could do is that if we have relations with Sudan, we could start leaning on them to make sure they don't start sliding.
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Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.
If our first goal is to make this agreement hold, before you get into your three priorities, what actions should we be taking to make this thing hold?
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Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children Canada
Should we make it stick? Yes.
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Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.
But what should we doing with this thing? Who should we be leaning on? What should we be doing?
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Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children Canada
We're a big contributor of aid in the whole region. We should be putting pressure on the whole region. Sudan, like everyone else, has relations with all of its neighbours. They're a big recipient of aid. We all need to make sure that they know where their interests lie and that their interests lie in a peaceful South Sudan.
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Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.
For example, our government could make it very clear that if we see them being disruptive, they personally will pay the price.
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Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children Canada
Yes. I mean, “personally”...I'm not sure that—
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Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children Canada
Yes, with our aid. We should use whatever diplomatic means we think will be effective to ensure that Sudan plays a peacebuilding role in the region as a whole. The region is—
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Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.
I understand that.
What about Uganda? Are they problematic, or are they not a problem?
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Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children Canada
They're not. In terms of their treatment of refugees, they've actually been among the most progressive and enlightened. They've just introduced—
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Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.
So the real problem is Sudan in terms of being a disrupter—
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Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.
It has been, but we hope in the last two months maybe not.