Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague, the chair of the foreign affairs committee, for his work on the committee and his intervention this evening.
We have been talking tonight about the present situation. Some have given an historical perspective along with that. It is clear that everyone agrees that Canada has to play a significant role in the region, and certainly in Mali. The question is how we do that. One of the things that we on this side of the House have mentioned is that it is absolutely critical that Canada support governance in Mali so that Mali can be revitalized as a resilient state. It is a difficult situation because of the grievances of the Tuaregs in the north, which go back to the beginning of Mali, as I am sure my friend knows.
The question is what more can Canada do than it has done? I will put aside my criticisms of the current government and its lack of action in Africa and the region, as I have put those on the record already.
Would the member agree that two things should be done? The first is that we should be contributing to the road map that the government has supported. The second is that the government should live up to its promise in the Speech from the Throne a couple of years ago to invest in an institute for the development of democracies abroad. We know that something is happening at the religious freedom office and one day we will hear about when it is going to be put together, but clearly an institute of democratic development is something that we can do. The government promised that it would do that and should do it.