Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to our witnesses and our officials for appearing before the committee today.
Pakistan is experiencing very challenging times. I was part of the delegation under the leadership of Minister Sajjan in September. I have seen first-hand the extent of the damage.
You mentioned that a needs assessment is being done. You also quoted a figure of $816 million...that some sort of assessment has been done.
There are still many parts of Pakistan where the water has not receded. When I travelled to the province of Sindh, especially the Dadu district, it was all under water. People are living in schools. Kids are not going to school. Most families are dependent on farming. This year they have not been able to plant crops. The seeds were supposed to go in in late September, early October. Winter is approaching. People have lost their houses.
What role can Canada play to make sure the needs assessment gets done? Can we provide some sort of technological help to Pakistan, to see if there is any technique that we can help them with to help recede the water? In parts of KPK, the water has receded. It did damage, but it's not there. But especially in Sindh, where the water is not receding, what can be done? Has someone looked into it? What can be done to provide help to Pakistan to make sure the water can recede so that at least the redevelopment process can start to happen?