Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you this evening.
A core belief of the Canadian Red Cross as well as of our sector partners is that no one should be blocked from receiving humanitarian assistance on the basis of location. We believe that Bill C-41 is a critical step forward in a longer-term journey to protect the provision of neutral and impartial humanitarian assistance. If implemented, put simply, it will enable Canadian aid organizations to resume operations in Afghanistan and conduct its operations in complex contexts across the globe.
I would like to focus on four recommendations today. The first is expediency. The second is alignment of the amendments to the purpose of the bill. The third is ensuring that the authorization regime is fit for purpose, and the fourth is the commitment to the longer-term journey that my colleague referred to.
In terms of expediency and implementation, all of us are aware of the staggering need for humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan. No one would like to see a second anniversary come to pass while Canadian aid organizations desperately want to deploy their resources, Canadian expertise and support to those who desperately need it. These programs are vital for improving access to health care and other life-saving assistance, in particular for women and girls.
My second submission is with regard to alignment of the amendments to the bill. We heard many discussions earlier this evening in terms of recommendations, and we agree with a lot of them that have been discussed.
What we would say is that the bill is intended to address an exceptional set of circumstances and rare contexts in which interaction with a terrorist entity is wholly unavoidable. It isn't about just the context of Afghanistan; it is around narrow, exceptional circumstances globally. To better support this intent, one of our strongest recommendations is to use the language of “substantial” control rather than “sufficient” control.
Finally, although there's a need for further clarity in the language of the bill, any revision must guard against the unintended consequence of increasing the breadth of application of the authorization regime.
This brings me to my third point: ensuring that the authorization regime itself is fit for purpose.
The coalition has chosen to focus on the implementation of the authorization regime because we feel as though this is where the rubber is truly going to hit the road. Beyond amendments to the bill itself, this is something that we can't lose sight of. We believe it has to be clear, fair, consistent, practical, expedient, reasonable and resourced. It also has to keep pace with operational realities.
The last is the most important, and I see my time is up, so I will be brief. It's the commitment to the longer-term journey. This is the step, the building block. It isn't everything. As long as we're committed to the longer-term journey that needs to be taken forward to systematize the provision of neutral and impartial humanitarian assistance, we strongly support the recommendations of this bill.