Mr. Chair, we very much appreciate you presiding over this important debate this evening. While we will miss your interventions in this place, we know that you are making a great contribution through your activities in the chair.
On behalf of the government, I want to begin the debate by stating emphatically the government's position in doing all we can to help achieve peace in Sudan and continue to ensure that this is a major policy initiative and priority for Canada.
I have just returned from the NATO foreign ministers gathering that took place in Sofia, Bulgaria, where the tragic and pressing situation in Darfur was discussed at length. All my international colleagues in the world community clearly understand that we have to work together, collectively, to help stop this conflict now.
It is critical that we continue to support African efforts to resolve this conflict and to bring whatever leverage the international community can muster to put pressure on all the various parties fighting in Darfur to take responsibility themselves for the violence being perpetrated against the most vulnerable of Sudan's citizens. Canada has been an active and important player in this international effort.
Tonight the government is listening to Canadians. We are listening to the voices of those who demonstrated in support of the people of Darfur over the weekend. We are encouraged by the fact that Canadians are engaged and in some cases enraged, as they pay attention to the plight of the almost 2 million people who have been forced from their homes by this conflict. Student organization such as STAND, Students Taking Action Now: Darfur, and many others in our country are putting pressure and bringing forward helpful suggestions.
I note the presence in the gallery of David Kilgour, who for many years championed this cause. We are pleased to see him back in the nation's capital.
It is important, and we wish to hear the voices and ideas of hon. members present who represent their constituents from around the country. We should be doing so in concert with our partners in the African Union and those in the United Nations and other international organizations.
This is the cut and thrust of this evening's debate. The government is listening to the collective wisdom of Parliament. Canada is not only ready to play an important role in these efforts. As hon. members know, we presently are engaged and are prepared to do more. My colleagues, on behalf of the government, will speak to this in greater detail this evening, including the minister responsible for CIDA and my parliamentary secretary, the member for Calgary East.
The pursuit of peace in Sudan and its region represents huge challenges for all. To provide context to the situation that we are considering tonight, I will say a few words about the region, its history and the current situation.
Sudan is the largest African country and has the sixth largest population. This country has been the theatre of civil wars and has suffered chronic instability for the greater part of the past 50 years. Sudan is located in what is historically the poorest area of the world and the most inclined to conflict. Establishing peace in the area requires addressing and resolving the various conflicts that are tearing Sudan apart. The impact of the conflicts does not stop at the national borders. It must also be addressed and resolved in the context of the region and the continent.
It was only a year ago that Sudan's long-standing north-south civil war was brought to a conclusion. This conflict had a devastating toll, taking an estimated two million lives and displacing upward of four million. The impact of the north-south conflict continues to be felt and requires a massive Sudanese and international effort to build the necessary infrastructure to support the long term development of the region and to ensure that it does not again lapse into conflict.
However, the fragile peace agreement between north and south, called the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, may be jeopardized by the continuing conflict in northern Uganda and the recent incursions by the Lord's Resistance Army in southern Sudan. I have recently instructed officials to step up Canada's diplomatic efforts with partner countries to address the root causes of the Ugandan humanitarian crisis, efforts which we hope will also help Sudan.
Canada is proud to have played an important role in the peace process that ended the north-south war and we are continuing this role, including through our participation in the United Nations peacekeeping force, which has been deployed to oversee the agreement.
The reason I am taking time to talk about the north-south agreement tonight, in the context of our debate on Darfur, is that we cannot hope to address the tragic plight of the people of Darfur out of the context of peace in the whole of the Sudan. The regions and, more important, governments impact very directly on one another in Africa, as the members know.
Let me now turn to Darfur, a conflict which erupted in early 2003 due greatly to the fear of the people of Darfur that their communities would continue to be marginalized and denied essential services in the wake of a north-south peace agreement which was touted as comprehensive, but did not take into account their needs.
Today the conflict continues, despite a humanitarian ceasefire agreement voluntarily entered into by the warring parties in the spring of 2004. Who are these warring parties? The conflict in Darfur is one which has pitted community against community. The population is predominantly Muslim, but divided upon ethnic and tribal lines, as well as being pastoral and nomadic livelihoods.
The United Nations estimates that violence in Darfur, in western Sudan, has displaced roughly 2 million people. Today, 200,000 refugees are living in camps in Chad in disastrous conditions. Canada remains deeply concerned by the continuing violence and the persistent culture of impunity in Darfur, and especially by the attacks on civilians.
Violence continues in Darfur because parties are not abiding by their own agreements. However, the latest reports from the African Union-led Darfur peace talks in Abuja are ongoing. While they may be encouraging, the next days will be critical. All parties, working through the agreement, have decided to extend the talks by 48 hours. This was granted on Sunday.
I spoke with Canadian officials as recently as moments before this debate began this evening. They are doing tremendous work to assist the process both in Africa and, as they have previously, at the United Nations in New York. We commend those officials for their work.
I have written as well to all participants encouraging the acceptance of the peace agreement. Although imperfect, it provides a political framework and an ongoing process to follow. All international parties are calling for the agreement to go forward and be accepted. It makes significant progress on the issues that are important: political participation; bringing rebel factions into the Sudan army; democracy building; recognizing parties, things that we take for granted; wealth sharing; humanitarian and development and infrastructure needs; compensation and help to those people who have been displaced; and most importantly, an end to the violence. Canada has done a great deal. We have been consistent and generous.
We all need to encourage other international parties to do the same and to honour their commitments. Canada's continued presence at the talks and our financial support to the African Union has facilitated the process. I mentioned the letters that were sent, at the urging of our officials there, to the various rebel leaders and the government of Sudan urging them to reach an agreement that all parties could uphold.
This international community has supported the talks for some time and the time has come for an agreement. The people of Darfur and indeed the international community expect nothing less. Canada again commends the tireless efforts of the African Union mediation team which has been instrumental in the progress achieved thus far.
However, this political settlement is long overdue when considered against the backdrop of the continued violence and suffering in Darfur. Reaching an agreement is only the first step, and implementation and reconciliation must follow quickly. Canada will be there to support both.
I would like to tell the House more about what Canada has done to date to help the people of Darfur and assist in resolving the conflict itself. The African Union has stepped up to the plate to lead international efforts to resolve the conflict. It has deployed a multinational force of over 7,700 military police and civilian personnel. The African Union's mission in Sudan, AMIS as it is known, is to encourage the parties to live up to their agreements, cease attacks on civilians, and establish the conditions necessary for the success of any peaceful agreement.
Canada has assumed an internationally recognized leadership role in support of the African Union's peacekeeping mission. We are currently one of the mission's top donors. Our contributions to AMIS total $170 million in logistic, financial and equipment support necessary to allow the mission to fulfill its mandate. We have supplied helicopters, fixed wing aircraft, armoured personnel carriers to provide the mobility necessary for the force's effectiveness, and we are continuing to provide military police and civilian experts to assist in the carrying out of their operations.
The AU mission has achieved much under exceptionally difficult circumstances. Those circumstances would have taxed even the most experienced and well equipped international forces, but both the AU and the wider global community recognized that the time is here, and the time is right for a new phase of international engagement, particularly in the hope that things will be settled at the Abuja peace talks.
This situation demands a new level of international engagement and has led to a request from the African Union to the United Nations to begin planning for the transition of the AU mission to a UN mission. That will integrate the peacekeeping force with an ongoing humanitarian, political, and development and peacekeeping effort into one cohesive fold. The UN planning effort is well engaged and Canada hopes for a transition to the UN mission by early fall.
We welcome the AU's request to the UN. We will continue to work closely with both and encourage them and others to provide the necessary support to succeed in the process. While assisting the AU mission, we will also engage in other programs to help build the conditions necessary for lasting peace. Through my department's role and the Global Peace and Security Fund, we are providing support for a community arms control and disarmament program led by the United Nations.
We work with civilian police, help to ensure the safety of communities, and provide assistance to train police and military forces on international human rights and humanitarian law.
I want to restate that Canada has been involved in the international effort to prevent the escalation and instability within the region, and to improve the humanitarian situation in Sudan. Canada will continue to monitor the situation in the future. We recognize the need to get these peace talks finished and then get on with the important job, the heavy lifting that will be expected.
We encourage all members to make their contributions here this evening. We are looking forward to hearing their advice and input. The peace agreement is hanging in the balance this evening and we know that the time is now. We emphatically encourage all participants in the peace talks to come to an agreement. Vigorous diplomatic efforts will continue in order to end the violence in a comprehensive ceasefire that will allow the entire region to get back to bringing people home and ending the suffering in the Sudan.