Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour for me to rise today, alongside my hon. colleague from Mount Royal, to present an important petition on Darfur from my constituents and many others attending Dawson College.
In particular I would like to thank Ellen Ward and Emily Coffey who, by their leadership, brought awareness of Darfur to many young people.
The petition states that the Government of Canada must act to stop the humanitarian crisis in Darfur; whereas since 2003 over 400,000 people have been killed and two and half million displaced, and, as a prosperous and internationally engaged nation, Canada has a responsibility to play a leading role to save the people of Darfur from despair, rape and death.
Therefore, the residents of Canada call upon the Government of Canada to engage with the international community in whatever way is necessary to end these atrocities.