Debates of Feb. 12th, 2014

Situation in the Central African Republic

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Chair, the member asked about children, so I will talk about the schooling of children.

All schools in Bangui have been closed since early December 2013. As soon as security allows it, the safe and permanent return of all teachers and students to schools will be a crucial step on the road to peace and reconciliation. It is urgent for children to get access to a place where they can learn safely. Returning to class gives children a sense of normalcy and stability.

The basic right to education is most at risk during times of crisis. Over the past year, 65% of 176 schools across the country have been looted, according to UNICEF.

UNICEF's appeal for emergency operations in the Central African Republic this year is for $62 million. The current funding shortfall is $52 million.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and for International Human Rights]

Mr. Chair, I welcome this opportunity to contribute to the discussion on the Central African Republic, a country of 4.6 million people, during this difficult juncture in the country's history. Let me provide some context.

The roots of the current conflict can be found in that country's troubled past, a country that has endured multiple military coups and dictatorships since it gained independence in 1960.

While its past has been troubled, previous conflicts did not have a religious component in a country where, according to the 2003 census, over 80% of the population are Christians, although many practise in their local animist beliefs, and 15% are Muslim. Historically, there have been conflicts over natural resources and land between a largely sedentary Christian population and largely nomadic Muslim population, but not over religious beliefs.

Unfortunately, the present conflict has become increasingly sectarian in nature with both communities gripped by a cycle of fear and retribution. How did it get to this point?

In March 2013, the government of François Bozizé was overthrown by a loose coalition of rebels known as Seleka, which originated in the CAR majority Muslim northeastern region. Seleka had accused President Bozizé of not abiding by peace agreements signed in 2007 and 2011. While most Seleka members were Muslim, about 10% of the members were non-Muslim.

When François Bozizé, who himself had come to power in a 2003 coup, fled the country, secular leader Michel Djotodia became interim president in March 2003 and the first Muslim to lead the CAR. However, there were already tensions within the Seleka, with some members originating from Chad and Sudan who did not speak the local dialect and who appeared to have used their position for self-enrichment at the expense of the communities they came to control.

Furthermore, Seleka actively recruited children. Members of this group were responsible for atrocities against villagers during the lead-up to the overthrow of François Bozizé which created tension within many communities in the CAR.

Meanwhile, Seleka fighters, sometimes in co-operation with nomadic pastoralists, attacked, pillaged and intentionally destroyed villages, many of whose populations were mainly Christian.

In August 2013, as the violence spread and refugees came across the CAR into neighbouring countries, the UN Security Council warned the Central African Republic posed a serious threat to regional stability.

Michel Djotodia, unable to control the various factions of Seleka, dissolved the group in September 2013. This was not the end of the troubles and matters quickly took a turn for the worse.

Most of the former members of Seleka refused to disarm and became increasingly violent. From mid-September 2013 there were growing numbers of reports of killing, rape and looting in the Central African Republic.

Into this chaotic and ungoverned context self-defence groups sprang up to defend local communities as well as settle old scores. These self-defence groups, known as anti-balaka, or anti-machete, militias were predominantly Christian. When these Christian militias attacked innocent Muslim communities in retaliation for earlier attacks by Seleka, ex-Seleka groups attacked more Christian communities in revenge, prompting another cycle of reprisals. Rapidly, the conflict became sectarian in nature.

Meanwhile, during the tenure of Seleka leader Michel Djotodia, the government institutions collapsed. Outside the capital, Bangui, basic services such as health and education were almost non-existent. In January 2014, as the country continued to fall into chaos, Michel Djotodia resigned under strong international pressure.

The National Transition Council elected a new interim president, Catherine Samba-Panza, who was the mayor of Bangui. She has stated she will abide by the road map adopted by countries of the Economic Community of Central African States and the NTC, including having elections as soon as feasible, as well as committing to reconciliation and to re-establishing security and state authority over all Central African Republic territory.

We must ask what the implications of the current chaos and violence in the CAR are.

Today, some 825,000 Central Africans, almost 20% of the country's population, are internally displaced, and over 86,000 Central Africans have fled as refugees to neighbouring countries.

Violence continues and there are reports that there is a steady stream of dead from intercommunal violence, punctuated by larger massacres where 500 or more people may have been killed.

Due to ongoing violence and the difficulty of accessing large swaths of the country, the true scale of the number of dead will likely only become clearer once a degree of stability has been restored. Meanwhile, people are seeking refuge in places of worship, which are no longer safe, or are hiding in the bush.

There are many real implications for regional security because of the current conflict in the CAR. The growing number of refugees has the potential to destabilize neighbouring countries where the governments have limited capacity to respond and address their needs. Some of these countries are already dealing with large numbers of internally displaced people due to their own internal conflicts. Refugee populations will likely put additional pressure on scarce resources in these contexts, raising the potential for increased tensions in isolated areas where governments in the region have a weaker presence.

Furthermore, the security vacuum in the Central African Republic could be used as a safe haven for armed groups active in neighbouring countries, such as armed opponents of the government of Chad operating in the CAR as well as the Lord's Resistance Army, a group notorious for recruiting children and for slaughtering civilians. The LRA is currently active in the southeastern region of the CAR and in northern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Meanwhile, criminal networks are actively smuggling diamonds, gold, timber, and ivory out of CAR. Some of the profits are potentially being used to sponsor armed and terrorist groups in Africa and beyond.

It is therefore imperative that the interim government of Catherine Samba-Panza be able to stabilize the situation and regain control of the country. The international community is taking active steps to help the Central African Republic. While the CAR used to be described as the forgotten crisis, the international community is now responding.

On December 11, 2013, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, a inter-agency forum of UN and non-UN humanitarian partners, declared the CAR a level three emergency, the highest level of international humanitarian response. It is the same level as Syria.

Furthermore, on December 5, 2013, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 2127, which provided for an African Union force in the CAR, known as MISCA, to protect civilians and stabilize the country.

On January 28, the UN Security Council unanimously approved resolution 2134 on the CAR, which authorized the deployment of European Union troops to that country and allowed them to use all necessary measures to protect its civilians.

On December 15, Canada announced that it was contributing $5 million toward the UN trust fund for the MISCA mission. Over the course of 2013, Canada has contributed $6.95 million in humanitarian assistance. Just yesterday, on February 11, the Minister of International Development and La Francophonie announced an additional contribution of $5 million from Canada to address the dire humanitarian needs of the people affected by conflict in the CAR.

Canada continues to provide humanitarian assistance and to work with our allies on how best to address the conflict and stem the ongoing violence in the Central African Republic. We will continue to work with the international community in efforts to address the humanitarian needs of the people of the Central African Republic and to help bring stability to the region.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, my colleague gave a good overview of what has been happening in the Central African Republic.

Last November, my colleagues and I put out a press release encouraging the government to engage. We wanted Canada to support the actions of the UN, particularly in allowing the European Union to have some security support on the ground.

My colleague enumerated the aid the government committed to in December and yesterday, as well. I want to acknowledge that support.

Back in November we also wanted to support what was happening at the UN. We have now seen that come to fruition.

Could the parliamentary secretary tell us if we are looking at diplomatic support and military support on the ground for the EU mission? Is that conversation happening? If not, why not?

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Chair, I was at the Addis Ababa African Union summit about two weeks ago. As the member knows, Canada is working with its allies. We feel that the African Union may be the key player in supporting them in addressing this issue.

The African Union, just after the meeting of the heads of state, had a meeting on the Central African Republic and how to address the issue. Arising from that, in conversation with our allies, in this case the European Union, as the hon. member mentioned, which will send an additional 500 people, they asked what kind of assistance we can give. Canada, of course, yesterday announced $5 million to maintain assistance. We also originally gave money to help the African Union forces in that country.

We are, of course, very concerned that violence is still going on there. The interim president is working very hard.

As I outlined, if the events taking place in the Central African Republic are not solved very quickly, they will have a very unstable regional influence in central Africa.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Chair, I thank the parliamentary secretary for his comments.

I will talk about something the Minister of International Development said in his speech and ask for his thoughts on this. It is the fact that the minister spoke about the importance of having safety corridors so that humanitarian aid could get through to those most in need of it. Somebody else spoke more recently about the fact that those who are delivering humanitarian aid are also in need of protection, because they are in a very dangerous place.

We know that the situation is deteriorating rapidly when we start hearing things like “ethnic cleansing” and when we start hearing about the atrocities committed on children. We know this is a very dangerous place.

There are 5,500 African troops. There are 1,600 French troops, and the European Union has recently announced 500 new troops. Is the government considering the possibility of Canada also making a contribution in terms of troops to help ensure the safety of those corridors so that the humanitarian aid Canada and other countries is delivering has a greater chance of reaching its destination?

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Chair, I absolutely agree with the member. We need these corridors because of the violent situation. We need to provide all the assistance we are sending, and it has to reach the people. The security corridors are very important to provide access to the people who need aid.

One of the policies Canada has had for a while is building capacity in the African Union to look after conflicts in Africa. During my recent visit to the African Union summit, the African nations were willing. They accept that it is their responsibility to ensure that.

What they are looking for from us is the kind of support the hon. member was also talking about, such as logistics support, which Canada provided in South Sudan. We did not send troops, but we provided logistics support for the African Union forces that were in Nigeria. The Liberal government at that time provided the armoured vehicles for the Darfur area.

Canada is providing capacity-building. We announced $5 million to help the African Union troops with capacity-building and the logistics of setting up that corridor. We feel that it is one of the best things for Canada to do. We will work with the international community, the European Union, and the United Nations in that respect. We will respond to the situation, as we did yesterday.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Chair, this is obviously a very tragic situation, a humanitarian crisis, but as Médecins Sans Frontières said, this is the kind of situation where intervention can make a difference. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is saying that the international response is not commensurate with the threat.

I know that Canada has provided logistical support and financing to the African Union, but for UN peacekeeping, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we were asked several times to send two or three or four particularly high-level, strategic, well-skilled people at the level of general to assist the African Union, and we said no.

In the circumstances that are now accelerating, with the momentum in the wrong direction, toward a potential genocide, particularly of the Muslim population, but the Christian population is also very much at risk in this country, would Canada be prepared to assist, if asked, and actually send troops to assist a multilateral effort to keep the peace and save lives under the doctrine of responsibility to protect?

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Chair, as I stated in my speech, the United Nations and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have already said that this is a serious crisis. If and when the United Nations calls for any kind of assistance, Canada is prepared to see what it can provide as the best assistance.

Let me correct the hon. member. I was in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Canada did provide the logistics support to the United Nations that was required by the troops out there. We will do that if the United Nations requests it, when we will see what kind of assistance we can best provide. There is no point sending people. What are we good at? That is what we are good at. We have done it in the past. We are building the capacity of the African Union's peacekeeping forces. We have contributed to setting up the peacekeeping forces so that the Africans can do what they have always demanded, which is to take control of their own continent and look after their own crises. We are there to help them, and that is what Canada will continue to do.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister]

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for the historical overview he began with. If we manage to understand the chronology of the events before the conflict began, are we able to determine what led to the conflict and where the point of no return is situated, or is it still too soon at the moment?

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Chair, the history of that country has been military coups and dictatorships. When Mr. Bozizé, who was the last to come to power, was overthrown, it changed from coups to a religious war. Prior to that, it was not a religious war. As has been alluded to by many speakers, the Christians and Muslims lived together. However, it was after his government was overthrown that the first Muslim militia came in, the Seleka, which brought a religious war context into this conflict, which is now the most serious one that has taken place.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I rise to contribute to our take note debate on the Central African Republic. I do it with very mixed emotions. Part of it is a lot of sadness and concern, and a bit of anger, frankly. I will explain that in a minute. However, there is also some hope that we can actually look at putting together some ideas tonight to recommend to the government.

The sadness is just what we have heard tonight. We heard of the horrific displacement of people, the disappearance of people, the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and the descent into chaos. What used to a place of some stability has become a place where people are now being questioned about their religious affiliation, which can lead to their death. That is why we hear today from Amnesty International its concerns about ethnic cleansing, as has been referenced a number of times, and that the seeds of genocide are there.

I was researching earlier and found that a female Nobel Prize laureate has documented over 1,100 confirmed cases of sexual violence, and I am sure there are many more. That is a very disturbing trend, where armed groups and people are using sexual violence as a weapon of war.

That obviously leads to sadness and, frankly, some anger at times. We have heard this stated in the House tonight and heard it before, where people talk about previous genocides. We talk about what happened 20 years ago. We will be commemorating what happened in Rwanda coming up in April, and there is Bosnia. We could go through a whole list. We look at the situation and ask why we are here again.

Someone I well respect, an expert on Africa and on genocide prevention, has claimed that if someone says “never again”, just look at them and say “prove it”. He goes so far as to say that if anyone tells us never again, walk away from them because they are frankly lying. It is because we see the history in front of us.

We have to take that seriously because we have the UN declarations that we have signed onto. We have the declaration on the prevention of genocide. We have tried to come up with systems to address this, yet what do we have? We have a situation in Central African Republic where the UN has stated its highest level of concern.

There is another thread to this that we have not really discussed tonight. It is the fact that this is in Africa and there seems to be a systemic, kind of racist approach to it. I do not accuse anyone in the House at all, of course. It is about the world's response often. I have found, and I am sure others feel the same way, that when it comes to the Congo, where we have seen 5.4 million die in that conflict since 1998, there seems to be disinterest from the world community. We have to wonder if it is just about the value of the lives of the people we are talking about. Is it because we do not value their lives as much as we do others'?

Therefore, I do find myself becoming angry, but that does not get us anywhere and it certainly does not help the people in the Central African Republic. What does help is looking at concrete solutions. I did acknowledge the government's aid to date, which is important to do. It is also important to acknowledge what other countries have done. I was just talking about the EU in my question to the parliamentary secretary. We were seeing before Christmas that something was going to happen at the United Nations to allow for some sort of stabilization force.

Let me recommend to the government the following, that we be actively engaged and offer our logistical support, as acknowledged by the government and the parliamentary secretary just minutes ago, and also our support in terms of people power, where we could help provide training, be it on the ground or adjacent, and help the African Union.

The parliamentary secretary was just talking about the Congo, where I was a number of years ago. There was a need there for some of our officer corps, who are trained in peacekeeping and conflict resolution. Of course, we had the language capability, which was incredibly important. When we see who is on the ground, we often find a lack of coherence because of communication issues. I put that to government as an idea to actively engage in this file, as well as by providing the support already mentioned.

Certainly with the EU and African Union, I am sure there would be a take on that and the need to provide more logistical and communications support and, if needed, some training for some of the people who are on the ground. I know that the Rwandans, for instance, are on the ground there. Can we help with training their peacekeepers?

It seems, after we hear reports from Amnesty and others, that the needed stabilization is not there.

The parliamentary secretary gave a fairly good resumé of the history. I would just like to go back about a year, when there was a peace accord. This is important to note. Of course, it did not hold, and we understand that.

At the time, there were warnings. This is very important for this debate tonight. There were warnings at the time of the peace accord and there were warnings from rebels who said that if it were not fulfilled, there would not be peace but conflict. Sure enough, that is what happened.

As has already been mentioned, we had, shall we say, an amalgam of the rebels at the time who were influenced by different countries. We often see these accords passed, and then everyone walks away and says “done”. We have to learn the lesson. Say yes to stabilization now. Say yes to pouring resources in now. Say yes to dealing with the conflict immediately to save lives, because we are talking about potential genocide.

Let us not forget, though, that Sudan as a case scenario. I think of Darfur is a case scenario. I think of what happened in Mali as a case scenario. Definitely in the CAR, though, a year ago in January, when people thought that the peace accord was done, there were warnings at the time of the potential for it to descend into chaos, as we now see. That is very important.

Another recommendation I have for the government is to do what other countries have done and assign someone to be a focal point on R2P. I say that as someone who understands how that could be a challenge for government, but it does not have to be.

In 2010, a number of countries, including Australia, Denmark and Costa Rica, came together to look at having a focal point for the idea of prevention of mass atrocities. Many other countries joined after that. We have a whole list. There is Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Botswana, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, the Czech Republic, the D.R.C., Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, the U.K. They have all appointed someone to be a focal point for R2P, basically for the prevention of mass atrocities.

We do not need someone who is just going to study things. We need to have someone who is going to look at these situations in real-time for prevention and to make sure that we understand the warning signs, which we saw a year ago, and what we need to do to further stabilize situations.

Let me finish by saying the following, which has not been mentioned. In the town of Yaloké , there were 30,000 Muslims. It was a bustling town that mainly dealt in the gold trade. That number has now been reduced to 500 Muslims. Where there were eight mosques, there is now one. When we talk about the seeds of genocide and ethnic cleansing, that is what we are talking about. People have either been removed or they have left.

We have to deal with this. We have to work together, regardless of our party. We must have our country do some of the things I just mentioned. I look forward to a discussion with other members of Parliament on this issue.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and for International Human Rights]

Mr. Chair, I of course want to thank my colleague on the other side who has been a foreign affairs critic for a long time and knows the issues very well.

He put forward two suggestions about providing capacity-building support for the African Union's peacekeeping forces. I want to say to my hon. colleague that Canada is working with African countries to build their capacity and train them, as he has rightly pointed out, and to do so beforehand so they can take over and not have a situation where the forces going into the area, in this case the Central African Republic, have no training.

They are looking at building the one peacekeeping centre in Tanzania and one in West Africa where Canada will provide the support necessary for the African Union, which is now very much interested, after many years, to be taking over the peacekeeping efforts in its own continent. So yes it is a work in progress as you said.

To your second suggestion, absolutely, I do not see anything wrong in being preventive. You are right. When there are—

[The Deputy Chair, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Order, please. I have two comments: first, if the hon. member could wrap up, and second, if he could direct his comments to the Chair rather than his colleague.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Chair, the second point that he did mention, which has great merit, concerned conflict prevention. That is excellent. We do not want to see atrocities taking place, as everyone is saying here.

So yes, those are very good points.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, this is where I would like to see government act. One of the challenges we have is money, as the member knows, and one of the challenges we had this past year was after the government decided to discontinue START as a program and a foundation for Foreign Affairs to be able to engage in conflict resolution and prevention. That wrapped up and we had the money lapse. So I am hoping that the Conservatives understand that we really have to get in the game.

Let me finish by saying that this idea of having a focal point is important, but I really have to underline the notion of the capacity the member is talking about in Tanzania and West Africa and creating the capacity within Africa. It is absolutely critical, but we can send and hopefully provide for that mentorship and support as well by doing a bit more, frankly.

And finally, I would say that when we look at prevention, which is absolutely what we have signed onto through the UN, we all need to do a lot more, and the case of CAR suggests that. As I said before, it is hard not think of this as just some form of institutional, systemic racism when we look at our not paying as much attention to what is happening in these humanitarian crises in Africa. I call on all of us to do a lot more when it comes to these situations.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Chair, as my hon. colleague and others have pointed out, insecurity remains a huge issue.

French and African Union forces must disarm all armed groups who threaten civilians. Urgent protection is needed for vulnerable civilians in Bangui and other areas, particularly in the northwest. French and African Union forces must ensure that encampments of internally displaced persons are adequately protected.

Does the member think that donors should urgently provide financial and logistical support to the African Union to ensure that MISCA has the necessary resources to fulfill its mandate? And should additional support be provided to the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic to ensure that it has adequate protection and necessary resources to fulfill its mandate?

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for the question because I was going to add this into my speech earlier.

One of the issues around resilience and support is that what we had before, and since July 2013, was the integrated peace-building capacity. Clearly, it needs further support, and I go back to my comments earlier about how we can be a more activist country when it comes to developing and innovating in peace building, peacekeeping, and prevention of mass atrocities.

The focal point is something I put out as an idea, as well as helping to train and help with these capacities. Also, in looking very closely at resolution 1325, to which we have signed on, we see that the government has an action plan to involve women, in particular, on peace building; however, we must stay with it, because once the conflict has subsided we cannot say, “Okay, done”. That should be the lesson of CAR. That is what people thought a year ago after there was a peace accord, and look at where we are now.

So, yes, we need to do those investments, but we have to be actively engaged. That is why I believe we have to have an activist foreign policy when it comes to this issue, particularly on prevention of mass atrocities.

As I said, it is hard to look anyone in the eye and say, “Never again” with honesty because it is happening again and again. That causes us all to reflect on what we can do to help.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Chair, I would like to thank my colleague for his very interesting speech, and especially for the conflict prevention points he raised. There are many different ways to prevent conflict, such as promoting dialogue, respecting human rights and the rule of law and combating regional and social inequality. Those are long-term approaches to preventing conflict.

I would like to ask him a specific question. My colleague talked about the responsibility to protect. According to that responsibility, the international community must intervene when a government is attacking its own citizens or is unable to protect them.

Does my colleague believe that this is an example of a time when the responsibility to protect, commonly known as “R2P”, applies?

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for that question because we really need to understand what that term means. It is why I think the focal point is a starting point, which other countries have done.

Look at the countries that started, in 2010, to have a focal point on R2P: Australia, Costa Rica, Denmark. They decided that smaller powers have a critical role to play and the diplomatic aspect of it is absolutely essential.

If we now can predict these mass atrocities, and we can, then what are we going to do? I guess that is where we have to come up with a better list of options to engage.

When we look at CAR, we see it is a classic case where, if we had understood a year ago and earlier the fact that there was not engagement in health, education, and diplomatic support and monitoring, and had we ensured that there was not going to be negligence from the nascent actors on this accord, then perhaps we would not have seen this.

This is why prevention has to be the primary mandate for us. It is why diplomacy and engagement are so important, as well as working with other countries like Canada who can provide that assistance and—let us be honest—that legitimacy. We do not have that threat of taking over a country, that colonial past, and we need to use that to our advantage.

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development]

Mr. Chair, I am pleased to have the opportunity to tell the House about Canada's humanitarian assistance funding to the Central African Republic, also referred to as CAR.

For the past year, this small landlocked country, situated between Cameroon, Chad, and South Sudan, has been struggling to cope with a full-scale humanitarian crisis. It has affected the entire population of the country, all 4.6 million Central Africans, and yet very few people know that the crisis even exists.

While the civil war in Syria and the recent typhoon in the Philippines have dominated headlines around the world, the situation in CAR has garnered little attention. Some experts have even labelled it a forgotten crisis. This is unfortunate, as the lack of coverage is egregiously disproportionate to the severity of the situation on the ground.

Let me provide some context. The CAR has been plagued by underdevelopment, political instability, and intermittent conflict since its independence from France in 1960. From an already fragile situation with significant needs, things took a turn for the worse last year. A long-simmering conflict between different social and political factions escalated last March when a rebel coalition named Séléka overthrew CAR's president and seized control of the country's capital.

Since then, armed groups have pillaged nearly the entire country and terrorized local communities. There have been widespread and increasing reports of looting, extortion, arbitrary arrests, torture, executions, sexual violence, and child recruitment.

Looting of health facilities and other public buildings, as well as the closure of schools and government offices, have deprived people of access to basic services. As of early January, out of all of those affected, 2.5 million people, more than half the population, were in need of immediate assistance.

More than 68,000 Central Africans have become refugees over the last 12 months, most of them crossing into neighbouring countries with what they could carry on their backs.

International humanitarian agencies and local aid groups have been striving to scale up their responses to meet the escalating needs, but the task is enormous. The operating bases of aid agencies have been looted and pillaged, and some aid workers have been directly targeted by armed groups. The insecurity is impeding the transportation of supplies into the country, as well as their distribution in remote areas.

Despite the deployment of African and other international troops, new outbreaks of violence have been reported in the northwestern and southern regions of the country.

International humanitarian assistance is a priority for the Government of Canada. It always has been. We are committed to providing humanitarian assistance wherever and whenever needed in a timely and equitable way. Media coverage is not a determining factor; only the lives at stake. That is why Canada is responding through experienced humanitarian agencies to assist the Central African people affected by this crisis.

In fact, Canada is not a new humanitarian donor to the CAR. We have been providing humanitarian assistance there for many years. Circumstances called for great measures, and so last year our government more than doubled our humanitarian assistance from what we provided in 2012.

To date, our government has provided more than $6.95 million to address the needs of the most vulnerable, particularly women and children, affected by this crisis.

In July 2013, Canada's Minister of International Development announced $6.2 million in humanitarian assistance to address urgent needs in CAR in 2013. This assistance includes $2 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross, $1 million to the United Nations Children's Fund, $1.5 million to Doctors Without Borders, and $1.7 million to the United Nations World Food Programme.

Yesterday, the hon. Minister of International Development also announced $5 million in new humanitarian assistance funding to the Central African Republic. This new assistance, announced only a few weeks after international appeals for this crisis were launched, reflects Canada's commitment to timely lifesaving humanitarian responses.

Our government's robust response to the situation in the CAR is consistent with Canada's reputation as a compassionate and generous nation that helps vulnerable people in times of need. In 2012-13 alone, Canada responded to 32 natural disasters and provided assistance to alleviate crises in 37 countries around the world. Canadians are proud of this track record.

As a people, Canadians have always understood our responsibility to contribute during times of need. We do so not to make ourselves look good in the eyes of our friends, our fellow citizens, or even the eyes of the world; we contribute because it is the right thing to do, and compassion is a value that has driven our great country for generations. When countries are overcome by disaster or overwhelmed by conflict, we respond, providing assistance in the most timely, efficient way possible, so people are fed, sheltered, and protected from harm, often in the face of unthinkable circumstances.

The new amalgamation of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development provides opportunities to further enhance the way our government responds to crisis. Canada's recent heroic response to the crisis in the Philippines as a result of Typhoon Haiyan is an example of the benefits of a well-coordinated DFATD and what we are capable of doing with a whole-of-government approach.

However, beyond amalgamation, we must continue doing three things, in particular, if we are to improve our humanitarian responses in increasingly complex environments like the CAR. First, as emphasized by the Minister of International Development in his speech at the Canadian humanitarian conference in October, Canada will continue to stress the impartiality, neutrality, and independence of its humanitarian partners. Upholding these principles is critical for ensuring that vulnerable people have access to assistance. It is also critical for ensuring the safety and security of humanitarian workers.

Second, we must continue to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the humanitarian system in order to improve results on the ground. Canada has been the leading voice in support of reforms to the humanitarian system globally, which are currently under way.

Last but not least, transparency and accountability must remain at the centre of our efforts. We need to place greater emphasis on the achievement of results, including a better understanding of our overall impact. It is in this spirit of responding to our humanitarian commitments and in support of humanitarian principles that our government has responded to the crisis in the CAR.

As the situation evolves, our government will continue to monitor events closely and respond as needs arise. On December 15, 2013, the Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that Canada would contribute $5 million to the UN-mandated trust fund to support the international mission led by the African Union in the CAR. Canadians can be proud of our response to the people of the CAR during this terrible time. Experts may have dubbed this a forgotten crisis, but it has not been forgotten by Canada.

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for her speech.

The situation is clearly very serious. This conflict, like so many others in Africa, has been characterized by killings. We know that women and children are the primary targets; they are vulnerable targets.

My colleague talked about compassion, but as the member for Ottawa suggested, does she think that, above all, we have to prevent these situations? There is no doubt that when it comes to taking action, we have very limited means.

Does she think that prevention would be a more useful and effective way to avoid this kind of conflict?

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Chair, first let me say that I do not think that there can be anybody in this House who is more concerned about the health of countries in Africa than I am. I have a son-in-law who is African and my daughter and son-in-law are currently living in Africa, where my son-in-law is a professor at a university and my daughter is teaching grades 4 to 6 English, so the health of African countries is absolutely part of who I am, and part of my family is African.

We need to look at all of these things in order to prevent these kinds of crises, the very reason our government has focused our international development on predicting and preventing. We want to see, first of all, secure food for people around those countries; secure futures for children and youth; and secure economic development, because we know that when those things are secure, there will be a whole lot less conflict over the issues in Africa.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Chair, given that my colleague has a strong personal attachment to Africa and given that this is a country that is literally tearing itself apart at this time, when unspeakable atrocities are being committed and when we bear in mind that last year over $300 million of the government's money for international aid and development lapsed because it was not spent, can she truly argue that, to use her words, Canada has responded robustly to the problem that exists in the Central African Republic? Can she really say this has been a robust response, given all the things she said in her speech?

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Chair, it would be just like the opposition to throw money at problems without a plan. Our government has been very focused on helping African countries. In fact, half of our development money goes into Africa. We doubled the aid to Africa over what my colleagues in the Liberal Party had given, and, most importantly, we untied that aid, unlike my Liberal colleagues across the way.

We have a very focused agenda on development in these countries. As I said, secure food is absolutely essential. Secure futures for children and youth are absolutely essential. We are pouring money into maternal, newborn, and child health initiatives across Africa.

I would invite my colleagues to take a look at a report by the Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Mortality in Africa, the “Good Practices Report 2013”. CAR is one of countries on that scoreboard. From all of those scoreboards, we are seeing a reduction in infant mortality and a reduction in the numbers of moms who are losing their lives in childbirth. We are doing the right thing and we will continue to do so.

[Bernard Trottier, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Chair, my colleague mentioned in her speech the $6.95 million that was contributed to support humanitarian organizations in 2013. She also mentioned the $5 million that was announced just yesterday by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. She could have mentioned also that it has been $25 million since 2007.

This is a terrible conflict. I know my colleague has been to Africa many times and has a deep affection for that continent. I think she would agree that it is a welcome development in this conflict that the African Union is leading some of the efforts to stabilize the situation to protect civilians especially.

I wonder if she would comment about the contributions Canada is making when it comes to enhancing the capabilities of member nations in the African Union. I think it is really important that we get beyond food, health care, and education, some of the basic things. Ultimately, to have some stable countries in Africa, they are going to have to have some capabilities when it comes to their justice systems and their defence systems and so on.