Thank you, Chair.
Welcome, honourable Minister Hassan and Mr. Jama. It's a pleasure to have you on Parliament Hill.
The Somali people have suffered through decades of civil war, warlordism, religious extremism, the consequential displacement of millions and sequential famines.
What we have today, it appears, is a real window of opportunity to change Somalia's course of history. It's so encouraging to hear that Canada is playing a major role in this transformation, except it's not the Canadian government; it's Somali Canadians who've returned and are making significant differences.
You referenced eight ministers of cabinet who are Canadian. As Mr. Aboultaif mentioned, in my riding I also have a number of constituents who have started up clinics and NGOs. It seems that there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Canadians on the ground building this new Somali future.
Do you have any idea of approximate numbers? How many Canadians are on the ground working to build this new Somalia?