Mr. Chair, I guess it is the position of the member's party, the Liberal Party, that Canada would give money directly to a government that is not democratically elected today. This is a government that came about as a result of a military coup. Perhaps that is the Liberals' position. It is not a position that this government would take, and I do not think it is a position that Canadian voters and taxpayers would want us to take.
However, we will be assisting the democratically elected government that will emerge from the free and fair elections in July, we hope. We will continue to support the democratically elected government of Mali in the future through the democratic development programs that we have done in the past.
With respect to the member's question about support for training or putting soldiers on the ground, it is certainly not our government's position that Canadians should be involved directly in any combat mission in harm's way in Mali, but I hope he would know that Canada has participated in training ECOWAS troops in surrounding countries over the last several years, and they have been quite successful. Soldiers from some of those countries are participating in the African-led force that is fighting against the rebels in Mali.
Canada has made a fairly significant contribution there, but if it is the position of the Liberal Party that Canadian soldiers should be involved in combat operations in Mali at the front lines, that is not something this government is going to support or promote.