Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you all for being here.
This is our third panel, and there's again a great diversity of opinion.
My colleague asked whether Pierre would get a chance to speak. I assume he'll have the opportunity during the questions.
I have three thrusts to my questions. They all relate to the upcoming G8. I'm going to put all three out there and then ask you to respond.
First, Ainsley, I think you referred to this in your presentation. During question period in the House on Friday, the minister responsible for the status of women referenced at least four times the fact that, as we sit here, 24,000 children under the age of five die in the developing world every day. I think we all know that.
My concern or my question is to those of you who are actively engaged internationally. I would like to know about the mothers who die from abortions. Can you tell us about that? I've heard various statistics. Can you tell us about the impact it has on children, both in terms of their own mortality and their long-term well-being should they survive? That's question number one.
My second question is this. My colleague from Toronto Centre, Bob Rae, asked a question in the House last week in terms of abortion as it relates to rape. He particularly used the Congo as a reference because of what's going on there.
I was astounded by statistics that my office and my staff provided me with today. The information is from an organization called Solidarity Helping Hand. It says that one child is raped every three minutes in South Africa and 45% of rape victims in South Africa are children. I would ask for comments from those of you who do international work. What are the impacts on those children, and what is Canada's role?
My third question relates to the Canadian government and The Lancet editorial that we heard about last week. They said the Canadian government does not deprive women living in Canada. I don't want to read it all. It said that “bans on the procedure, which are detrimental to public health, should be challenged by the G8, not tacitly supported.” Further:
Canada and the other G8 nations could show real leadership with a final maternal health plan that is based on sound scientific evidence and not prejudice.
Again, my question to all of you is this. How do you see Canada's role in providing leadership to the G8, given their limited response to women's productive rights?
Those are my three thrusts, to whoever wants to go first.