Mr. Speaker, Jean-Philippe Bourgeois, a resident of the Centre-du-Québec region, is making preparations for his fifth international mission under hostile conditions. This is a man who has spent more than 18 months in Afghanistan since 2001.
He has worked in Chad. During his time in Afghanistan, he was twice landed in the mountainous area in order to keep the routes for humanitarian aid open by any makeshift means possible. This year, the UN recruited him as a regional logistics coordinator for the Afghan election.
He has gone to Haiti to prepare for his next mission, which will be looking after the logistics for the forthcoming election in that country.
In Afghanistan, he was responsible for overseeing some 22,000 people, but in Haiti it is estimated that there will be 4.8 million eligible voters. His task will be to see to preparations for the voting and to ensure that everything goes well on election day.
The Bloc Québécois congratulates Jean-Philippe Bourgeois on all his accomplishments and on his invaluable contribution to humanitarian aid.