Mr. Speaker, we have often mentioned in this House the terrible genocide that took place in Rwanda. Over half a million people, mostly men, have been killed, and over 250,000 women were not only raped, but often mutilated and tortured.
It is important to condemn this situation, because women currently account for 70 per cent of the Rwandan population. Even more tragic is the fact that 60 per cent of these women are widows, because of the genocide, and cannot inherit their dead husbands' assets.
Even though the international assistance to Rwanda in the last two years has totalled $2.5 billion, of which $75 million is from Canada, these women only received a meagre part of that amount.
In addition to condemning this terrible and unacceptable situation, I wonder how we could possibly ignore such a large group of the population, and I also wonder if the Canadian government intends to finally take action to help these forgotten women.