Mr. Speaker, Canada is committed to helping to achieve a lasting peace for the people of Darfur. Canada welcome's Sudan's recent acceptance of the full heavy support package of UN assistance to the African Union mission.
Given Sudan's record of stalling international efforts to achieve peace in Darfur, Canada is calling on the Sudanese government to demonstrate that it is a full partner in this process. We must now focus on ensuring that the next step, a hybrid AU-UN mission, is in place as soon as possible.
Canada is part of a concerted international effort to bring about a just and lasting peace throughout all of Sudan. Since 2004 Canada has spent over $368 million working to improve the human rights and the humanitarian situation in Sudan. This includes support for urgently needed humanitarian aid, diplomatic efforts to achieve peace and of course our support as a principal donor to the African Union's peacekeeping mission in Darfur.