Thank you to both Ms. Gai and Mr. Odwar for your presence here.
I had the fortune of visiting South Sudan in January of 2012 with the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association. In fact I believe we were the first Canadian parliamentary delegation to visit the country after its independence and one of the first international delegations.
Over and above being struck by just what wasn't there in Juba—and I don't mean that with any disrespect—I was struck by the hope that emanated from the individuals. We met with representatives of the media, we went out to Wau and met people who were taking advantage of some of the initiatives that were offered to them through CIDA, especially women's organizations out in that area in terms of developing means to support themselves.
We left with many concerns after meeting with many of the parliamentarians, but we hoped it was the beginning of a dialogue and cooperation on a parliamentary level between Canada and South Sudan, so I'm actually quite saddened to hear of what is going on some three years later.
One of the things that you touched on, sir, was that one of the roles Canada can play is in helping shape an understanding of governance in South Sudan, and I would like you to comment on that a little further with this thought in mind. In our introduction, I introduced myself as a member of the official opposition at the time. There were looks of surprise on the parliamentarians' faces in South Sudan, and the discussions that I had after that with them were in terms of “What does that mean, the official opposition? What is your function?” One of the parliamentarians asked me, “Why aren't you dead?” It was really eye-opening.
So in terms of how Canada could help in governance, can you expand on that? Both of you actually can expand on how we might be able to help in that way.