Mr. Speaker, not long ago I asked the Secretary of State for Africa and Latin America a question concerning Sierra Leone, a small west African country, arguably the poorest country in Africa.
The country's legitimate government was overthrown in May 1997 by a so-called armed forces ruling council which itself was removed from power recently by a Nigerian led west African peacemaking force. I was very pleased to learn that the secretary of state will be visiting Sierra Leone tomorrow and gathering information about the state of affairs in that country.
The news reports from Sierra Leone are very serious. There is a crisis brought on by food shortages. Continued sporadic fighting in certain areas has also contributed to a serious refugee problem. Some reports put the number of people in need of food as high as half a million. This situation is extremely volatile. The west African force that I just mentioned which ousted the military junta replaced it with the civilian government which had previously been in power and which was led by former President Afmed Tejan Kabbah.
Freetown right now and a number of the other major centres such as Bo, Makeni and Kenema have been secured but there are still areas where there is sporadic fighting.
There is a great deal of suspicion about the intentions of the Nigerians in Sierra Leone. A recent article in The Economist magazine suggested that Nigeria may be interested in Sierra Leone's mineral wealth, which includes deposits of rutile, bauxite and diamonds.
Sierra Leone's recent history is a continuing tragedy of enormous proportions. Since independence in 1961 the country has been on a downward spiral brought on by political instability, greed, corruption and repression.
Within the last 30 years Sierra Leone has witnessed three conspiracies to overthrow the government, six attempted and five successful coups d'état. Over the last few years the political problems in neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone have created nearly one million refugees in the region.
My personal interest in Sierra Leone goes back about eight years when I first visited the country as a member of a delegation sponsored by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. I was a participant from the city of Nepean. At that time I was involved in a municipal development project sponsored by CIDA involving the town of Bo.
I made a total of three trips to Sierra Leone, in 1990, 1991 and 1993. I was very pleased and proud to be involved in several projects including the construction of a new market building in the town of Bo.
What is Canada's interest in Sierra Leone? Apart from the Canadian aid and development agencies that have operated in the country for many years, including CAUSE Canada, the Red Cross and CUSO, there is a longstanding historical connection between Canada and Sierra Leone.
Many freed slaves from Nova Scotia made their way back to Freetown in the early decades of the last century. In this regard I understand there still is a community to community link which exists between Halifax and Freetown.
As an English speaking Commonwealth country, Canada shares many of the same traditions and institutions as Sierra Leone. It is interesting to note that as Commonwealth countries, Canada and Sierra Leone are at the top and bottom respectively of the United Nations human development index.
Although blessed with many mineral resources, Sierra Leone has simply been incapable of exploiting these resources for the benefit of its people who remain the poorest of the poor.
When the minister returns from his visit to west Africa I hope he will provide this House with a report on what he discovered in Sierra Leone, in Ghana and some of the surrounding countries.
Canada in relation to Sierra Leone has promised aid. I am sure many members of this House will probably share the view that we can and should do better in terms of food aid, medicine and reconstruction assistance to a country that has been seriously devastated.