Mr. Chair, I would first like to congratulate the minister on his speech, which gives us a little more information on Canada's role in this matter.
I was born not too far from there. Thus, I know the region, which has a history of violence. This has been going on for generations. From one tenuous peace signing to another, the same patterns often repeat themselves.
This calls to mind what was happening in many African countries at the dawn of their independence in the 1960s. Similar types of conflicts persisted even after agreements were signed that normally would have brought about lasting peace in Africa. However, our history has been different and, as we are seeing, history repeats itself.
A mistake that is often pointed out by observers--including anthropologists and sociologists--is that the necessary conditions have not been established or suitably reinforced to allow sufficient emphasis on education and culture in the minds of the people in African communities, which are often divided based on ethnicity, clans and so on. After all, it has been said that to educate a child is to educate a nation. It is about taking charge of one's future.
General William Balfour, a Scotsman who lived in Nigeria prior to its independence, once said, "One does not bring fruit to trees; one waits for the fruit to grow". From this point of view, what can the minister tell us regarding what will happen beyond the peace signing, assuming there is a desire for a lasting peace?