Mr. Speaker, I think we are going to have to do something about the parliamentary secretary's smoking habits. I do know he has done long hours of hard work on this file.
It is indeed a pleasure to stand in the House of Commons and represent the riding of Crowfoot, but also to be able to speak about Canada's mission in Afghanistan. This is an issue that is sure to define our country's role in international affairs for years to come.
I have the privilege of serving as the chair of the foreign affairs and international development committee. Certainly there is a number of different areas where Canada is involved and has been over the years. The work that the Canadian armed forces, the Canadian government and the people of Canada have done in Afghanistan is going to be a defining moment and a real standard which other countries are going to have to take a look at and perhaps live up to.
This government welcomes the kind of debate that we are seeing here in the House of Commons today, the dialogue that is going on between all parties, because frank and open exchanges and discussion are key in shaping our future role in Afghanistan. It is important to bring various viewpoints to bear when we are making decisions as critical as what our country is making in regard to Afghanistan.
As often as we see and hear about the military aspect of our mission in the newspapers, on the radio and on television, the humanitarian and developmental assistance aspects of this mission are also critical success factors in Afghanistan.
As the hon. Minister of International Cooperation very eloquently stated during the debate on Motion No. 5, our efforts to bring hope and confidence back to Afghanistan rests in a large part on our ability to promote development and reconstruction in the country. Progress in these areas means better living standards for ordinary Afghans.
That is what this is about. This is not necessarily about just checking off certain benchmarks when we attain something. It is about how the ordinary Afghan lives, the standard of living for Afghans.
It means improved infrastructure. It means enhanced access to vital services such as health care and education. It means increased protection under the law. It means a greater respect for human rights. It means more employment prospects, a stronger economy. These are the things that make up the difference in the day to day living for the average Afghan.
There is no denying that our mission continues to be dangerous and challenging. There is no denying that we still have a long way to go. There is also no denying that we are seeing significant progress in many areas.
I want to touch briefly on some of the areas that have been brought forward to our committee and which I think Canadians really need to understand. What progress are we seeing in Afghanistan?
First of all, there is education. Close to six million children are now in school in Afghanistan. One-third of those students are girls. This is a dramatic increase over 2001 when there were only 700,000 children who attended school and every one of them was a boy. All of them were young men from Afghanistan, no girls.
In health care, tuberculosis deaths have been cut in half annually. Infant mortality rates have dropped by almost a quarter. These are lives saved.
We all notice and count the number of casualties that we see in Afghanistan. Very seldom do we ever take account or an inventory of the number of lives that are saved. Prior to 2001 and even up until a number of years ago there were high infant mortality rates.
We also see an access to health care that has soared to over 80%. Access is up from only 9% for the ordinary average Afghan just a few years ago.
In humanitarian assistance, more than five million refugees have returned to Afghanistan since 2002. Why are these people coming home? Because they have hope. They see that this mission is making a difference. More than 365,000 in 2007 had returned, with the assistance of the Canada supported United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
A number of days ago we celebrated a day when we called upon the world to get rid of landmines. In mine action nearly 1.3 billion square metres of land have been cleared, opening up fields and land for productive purposes such as farming and other commerce.
In economic development, per capita income doubled between 2003 and 2006. More than 418,000 people, the majority of them women, are accessing small loans and savings services to help rebuild their lives and reduce the vulnerability of their economic stresses.
In community development we have seen over 20,000 elected councils. They have been put in place across the country to oversee community development projects in areas such as agriculture, infrastructure renewal and access to drinking water. More than 18,000 such projects have been completed to date. Their impact on the country's reconstruction cannot be overstated.
These are but a few examples of genuine progress in Afghanistan.
I cannot stress enough what an important difference we are making in the lives of Afghans. This is not to say that the situation is perfect. I think every party here and most Canadians understand that we have not reached any end goal yet. We continue to face a daunting set of challenges in the face of such diverse and complex issues.
On poverty, we are still addressing it. There are extremely low literacy rates. When we start an education system from square one it takes time to build. There is a desperate lack of infrastructure. Institutions have been debilitated by war and misrule. The continued insurgency is still a huge concern not just for our military, but for all people who understand the situation and the fact that this insurgency still comes. There is widespread corruption, the illegal drug trade, a tradition of warlord rule, and the condition of women and girls. I underline that one again because we have already spoken of it. Still, part of the culture, perhaps part of the tradition of that country under the Taliban rule has been one--and diminishing is not even the right word--of ignoring completely the human rights especially for women and girls.
All these factors make Afghanistan one of the most challenging operating environments in the world. It is challenging for us as a government and challenging for us as a country. It is challenging for the Afghan government, a new government trying to develop a certain level of democracy. Certainly it is challenging even for our allies and partners. They are realizing that it is a massive undertaking as well.
Working in such an environment is a gruelling task, but we are learning something new every day. We are applying new knowledge from lessons learned as we constantly explore ways to improve our effectiveness.
I do not think this government has ever come to this place and said that this is the only way to attack poverty and the issue of security. We have never done that. We have learned from lessons. This is a progression even as we continue in many of these ways. However, we are moving forward.
That said, if some of the progress that I mentioned earlier is any indication, there are many reasons to hope for a brighter future. There are many reasons to believe that if we stay the course, if we continue to apply lessons learned, if we continue to look at innovative ways, we will see positive changes in Afghanistan.
That is why this government is pleased that the House supported our motion to extend the mission beyond 2009. It is why we are pleased that the House continues to be engaged in helping to shape the future and the way forward in the years ahead.
Canada is making an important contribution to the mission. We are proud of the accomplishments of our men and women who help Afghans rebuild their country after years of war.
The Prime Minister in the House has been very clear. Our military mission ends in 2011. As the Prime Minister said in Bucharest, “We are serious about not just staying but also leaving. When I say leaving, I mean accomplishing our objectives, which is training the Afghan forces so they can take responsibility for their own security”.
Much work remains to be done, to build a nation and a society that is self-sufficient, economically stable and able to provide its own prosperity.