Mr. Chair, my colleague started his speech by saying that the opposition was asking for boots on the ground, yet no one has suggested that. It is a pure invention. The only one who spoke about boots on the ground was the Minister of National Defence before he was muted by the government.
After long hours of debate, we are still waiting for answers from the government on questions that were asked earlier in the debate. First, why in the context of this crisis is Canada not investing in AFISMA? Why are we not committing to offering training for the African troops? Why are we investing only $13 million, or so much less than many other countries with fewer links to Mali than we have? Indeed, Mali is a country in the Francophonie that we know very well. Moreover, why are we not committing to help the democratic process?
I know we do not want to get too close to an unelected government, but that government now has a road map for an election in July. What will we do to be sure that this election will be held in a proper fashion?