Mr. Speaker, my comments tonight have to do with the situation in Darfur. It is a situation that has been debated in the House many times. I am following up on a question I asked in the House regarding the government's commitment to the UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur.
The situation in Darfur is again getting worse. Since the beginning of this year, the United Nations has taken over the Darfur peace force, but within days of that Sudanese troops fired on a convoy of UNAMID, the African Union-UN hybrid mission. Sudanese government planes bombed rebel positions in West Darfur, turning some of those areas into no-go zones for aid workers.
Just days ago the commander of the UN-African Union peacekeepers in Darfur said more troops are urgently needed in West Darfur. The UN mission has begun after more than four years of devastation and desperation. It has taken over from a AU mission, whose limited mandate and resources failed to stabilize the situation in Sudan.
In order for the UN peacekeeping mission to successfully go ahead at its full capacity, it needs airlift and helicopters. The UN Secretary-General said the mission will be put at great risk if it does not receive the helicopters it needs. The head of the UN peacekeeping department told reporters the force needed 6 attack helicopters and 18 transport helicopters. He said, “I think it tells a sad story on the commitment for Darfur, frankly”.
I asked government officials in committee if Canada would be providing helicopters for the new UN mission. The answer was a flat no. To be precise, on November 27, 2007, I asked Mr. Edwards, then deputy minister of the Department of Foreign Affairs, “Are we providing helicopters for that mission?” He answered, “We will not be”.
So I asked the minister if he could tell the House and Canadians what the government would do for the new UN mission. He had no answer for me. On November 28 I asked the minister:
Could the minister tell the House and Canadians what the government is going to do for the new UN mission?
The minister replied:
Mr. Speaker, we are working together with the African Union and with the UN forces to ensure that this country can find the path to peace and democracy. We are working on it. The negotiations began on October 27 and we were there to promote our common values of democracy and peace.
This obviously did not address my question which was very precise and specific. I was asking if we were going to be providing more resources, specifically helicopters, to the new UN hybrid mission, the peacekeeping mission in Darfur.
I asked the minister yet again in my follow up question:
Could the minister tell the House and Canadians why the government is not going to provide support for the new UN mission? That is the question. What is the answer?
The reply from the minister was:
Mr. Speaker, we support the current activities in Africa.
I was talking about Sudan.
We are there with the other UN countries. We have a presence among the UN forces and we are working with the African Union forces to help--