Mr. Chair, I believe my hon. colleague is incorrect about what resolution 1706 says, but let me talk about the military question he asked me because it was quite direct.
Do I support military intervention as a general principle in areas where it is necessary? Yes, I do. Can Canada play a role in that realistically today? No, we cannot. It is going to take at least six months even if we had the troops to go in there.
The number of 1,200 has been mentioned and has been exaggerated to 1,500 Canadian Forces troops available to do this. I would point out that if this number is true, and I do not know the veracity of that number, that would be a one time number for a short term deployment.
If we are going to do any good in places like Sudan, as we are doing in places like Afghanistan, then we are talking about a deployment that lasts much longer than six months. If we are going to have people in any operation like that, we need three soldiers for every one that is on the ground, wherever we go. That is what we are doing in Afghanistan right now. We are stretching our forces terribly thin, because right now they are supposed to be six months in a theatre like that and then two and a half years out of a theatre like that. Right now, they are in theatre six months out of every eighteen.
If we tried to do that with another mission in Sudan with anything more than a couple of hundred troops, we would be grossly violating the pact that we have with our military to look after them, to have them do the good work they are doing in Afghanistan and to continue that work. I believe the Afghan women and children have every bit as much right to live as the women and children of Sudan.
That is not trivializing the situation in Sudan at all. It is providing some realism in the situation. Canada is doing an awful lot in Sudan now. Can we do more in some areas? Probably yes. In the areas my hon. friend is questioning, probably no.