Mr. Chair, as I have been watching the debate all night, I thought I would just make a few observations before I get into my notes on the humanitarian situation. The first one is that the Prime Minister reached out to the opposition. He said this is what is going on in Mali and if the opposition was interested in discussing it further that by all means it could be studied at committee. We have been doing that. We have had one meeting on it so far and we plan to have, I believe, another two or three meetings on this over the next week or so.
I do want to thank the officials who came out to see us and brief us. They were there last Thursday. We had Kerry Buck, who is the political director and assistant deputy minister from the Department of Foreign Affairs. She brought along Patricia Malikail and Lisa Helfand, who is the director.
From the Department of National Defence, we had Major-General Jonathan Vance. I want to thank him.
From the Canadian International Development Agency, we had David Morrison and Leslie Norton. I want to thank them for their briefing last Thursday.
We are going to continue to talk about this situation over the next few days. The Prime Minister reached out to the leaders of the opposition to keep them informed and to offer up any discussion they may want to have in the House.
As I have been listening over the last couple of hours, I realized that not all of this relates to Mali. Some of this relates to some of the things that we are doing as a government that the opposition does not like. I get that. That is what the opposition is there for. The members will challenge the government and the direction.
It was raised that maybe we did not have enough troops on the ground. I heard that coming from the opposition. I heard that maybe we need to spend more money. I guess the challenge will always be whether there is ever enough money that we can spend. If we have troops on the ground, will the question be why we put troops on the ground, when we look at what happened in Afghanistan? It was a war that was not started by us. The Liberals put our troops there, and then when they became opposition, they asked when were we going to bring the troops home.
Once again, we understand that when a party is in government it makes decisions and will be challenged on them. Look at the F-35. It was a process started by the opposition. It was sole sourced and picked by the Liberals as the best plane. Now that they are in opposition, they challenge the government, asking why we chose the F-35. Regardless of what happens, there is always going to be noise coming from the opposite side about what our government is doing.
We have taken a measured approach. What we have done has been great. The opposition talks about maybe not enough money. The last speaker said maybe we could give more money, but I look at what the Canadian government has contributed to the region. It is over $100 million. We did not just show up in Mali. We have been there for a number of years. Therefore, when we look at how we can help out, whether it is the $13 million that the Minister of International Cooperation announced, or whether it is the $18 million in kind that we are contributing for the military strategic airlift, we have been there. We realize there are all kinds of parts. Someone mentioned that the Japanese contributed $100 million.
These are all great things, but it is important that we be strategic and look at what we are doing, so we are not just saying “me too” there, so that we can pick spots where we have been.
I may comment later, if I have time, on some other things. Someone mentioned the fact that we are looking at trade deals in Africa and asked why that is the case when we should have been looking at some of these other things.
I want to talk a bit about the humanitarian situation and the fact that we are gravely concerned about the current crisis in Mali and the repercussions this is having on the neighbouring countries in the Sahel region. This has been mentioned many times tonight, that it is not just Mali that we are concerned about. We are concerned about the whole region.
Malians living in the north have, over the last year, been subjected to brutal treatment by armed groups and terrorists seeking to impose a very strict form of Sharia, prompting mass displacement. Since the crisis began, over a year ago, more than 385,000 people have been forced to flee their homes. More than 8,000 have fled to neighbouring countries, and many more have been internally displaced. The conflict and the activities of armed groups, terrorists and rebels are making relief efforts more difficult.
In order to meet the needs of those affected by the conflict in Mali, it is imperative for the humanitarian workers to have full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to those in need. Secure access is necessary to provide lifesaving assistance.
Until recently, terrorists, extremists and other armed groups have patrolled nearly two-thirds of Mali's territory. They took advantage of a power vacuum in the capital and occupied the remote villages and Malian Sahara, and terrorized Malian men, women and children.
I would like to detail for hon. members some of our government's activities in building the capacities of local governments to combat terrorism and insecurity in the region.
Canada contributes to counter-terrorism efforts in the Sahel by providing training, funding, equipment and infrastructure to developing states. In 2010, our Conservative government devoted new resources specifically to the Sahel. The new fund targets 11 states in the Sahel over 5 years. Mali is one of those states.
I would also note that under Canada's G8 presidency, the Sahel region was identified as a priority region for counter-terrorism and was mentioned specifically in the Muskoka declaration. As chair of the counter-terrorism action group, CTAG, Canada hosted a large multi-stakeholder meeting in Bamako in October 2010, aimed at encouraging greater regional co-operation in the fight against terrorism.
Our government was active and interested in Mali before recent headlines took other parties' attention there. Since 2010, we have provided $18 million to countries in the Sahel to strengthen their capacity in the key areas of law enforcement, military, and intelligence, and the legal and criminal justice regimes against terrorism.
We co-chaired the Sahel counter-terrorism working group focused on countering violent extremism and supporting better border management. Prior to the coup, we provided Mali with important support for its security forces and worked to strengthen the country's legal regime against terrorism. We expect that a return to democratic rule will see these efforts bear fruit.
The instability brought by the security and the humanitarian crises in northern Mali has an impact on Canadian interests from a security, commercial, democratic, human rights and humanitarian perspective. It is in Canada's interest to contribute to the stabilization of Mali and to support efforts in combatting terrorism. That is to say, northern Mali and the whole Sahel must not become a safe haven for terrorist organizations. Assuring the territorial integrity of a free and democratic Mali is in Canada's interest. Our government stands ready to help a democratic Mali build a better, brighter future for all Malians.
These beliefs are at the core of Canada's foreign policy, one where democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law are invaluable principles. Our government has worked to combat the scourge of terrorism in the Sahel region and will continue to do so.
As we have heard tonight, we have been working there. Despite the talk about money not being delivered, we have been contributing funds to Mali, as I said, of over $100 million. When the coup against the government took place, we looked at getting that aid money to organizations on the ground.
We believe it is important in that region. We believe it is important to help the people of Mali and will continue to do so.