Debates of May 12th, 2014

Kidnapping of Girls in Nigeria

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I will quickly answer these questions.

As I stated in my speech, we are working with our counterparts. Canada is now working jointly with the U.S.A. and Britain. Canada is on the ground helping Nigerians. We are now awaiting the report on the coordination process that is going on, and as soon as the report comes in, we will decide if this task force is requesting further assistance from Canada. Canada, as I stated, is willing to help in any capacity. That is number one.

Number two, in reference to the conference that has been called by President Hollande, of France, this has just happened recently, as we know. We are awaiting the details from President Hollande on the process. As I have stated, we are in consultation with our allies, and we will jointly take the action that is needed and do whatever we can do.

Third, to answer the last question about the overall fight on terrorism, as we know, after Libya, Gadhafi's breakup of the situation in Mali, and with what has happened in Nigeria and in Mauritania, all of these regions in Sahel are facing very serious problems of terrorism. We are now assisting in the capacity building in this partnership that I talked about for these countries to fight the war against terrorism. Out of that, $500,000 has already been spent in Nigeria, building capacity there.

It is a long-term process, as the member has already pointed out. Nigeria is an oil-rich country, and yet, as the member pointed out, there are many children not going to school. Naturally, there is serious inequality in this country. It is a long-term process, but Canada is there to do whatever it can.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Nigeria's government accepted offers of help last week, from the United States, Britain, France, China, Spain, and Canada. What specifically will Canadians be doing? Are supplementary requests expected or required?

Will Canada be attending the summit that France is hosting? We know that Benin, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger will be attending, and there is speculation that the United Kingdom and the U.S. will be as well.

Looking beyond the crisis, does the government envision a broader good governance and training program for Nigeria, given its importance for Africa?

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Speaker, first, the well-being of the girls is very important to us. We do not want to take any kind of action that would harm the girls. In that aspect, we are coordinating our efforts. Canadians are in Nigeria now, along with the U.S.A., Britain, and other countries. It will be one coordinated effort to look for the girls. That is an ongoing process.

As for the conference that France has called for, the reports have just come out. We are going to be working with France. We will work with our allies in that region to address many of these issues, as we have done in the past in Nigeria, as well as in Mali and Algeria.

Canada is strongly involved in the fight against terrorism. As I have stated, that whole region is subject to terrorist activities by groups. Canada is helping with capacity building. That includes Nigeria as well. We have spent close to $500,000, helping the Nigerians come up to their capacity as well.

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, if there is any evidence that the violence and abuse of women and girls often goes under the radar, this urgent issue we are talking about this evening is a clear example of that.

Over the past few weeks, the world has become captivated by this egregious abuse of human freedom and rights. Unfortunately, Boko Haram's abduction of 276 school girls is not its first. About a year ago, in May 2013, the Boko Haram leader released a video saying that it had taken women and children, including teenage girls, hostage. Mr. Shekau said that the hostages would be treated as slaves.

In November 2013, Human Rights Watch said that Boko Haram reported that it had abducted scores of women and girls and used girls as young as 12 in hostilities.

Daniel Bekele, the Africa director at Human Rights Watch, has said:

For a group that claims to be religious, Boko Haram's tactics are the most profane acts we can imagine. The killing and mutilation of ordinary Nigerians, the abduction and rape of women and girls, and the use of children for fighting are horrifying human rights violations.

Mma Odi, executive director of the Nigerian charity Baobab Women's Human Rights said:

It is a very bad situation for those girls. The men went to the school for no other reason than to make them their sex objects. The men will have reduced them to sex slaves, raping them over and over again. And any girl who tries to resist will be shot by them. They have no conscience. The conditions will be terrible and it seems like the government has just abandoned them because they are girls and they are poor.

As many members in the House are aware, I have worked hard to raise the issue of human trafficking, which is modern-day slavery in our century. When we are raising the issue of these abductions in this House, we must ensure that human trafficking is part of that discussion.

Boko Haram has made it clear that it will use these girls, just as it has in the past, as slaves. Many of the men in Boko Haram have left behind wives and families, and these young school girls will be given to them as sex slaves. The leader of Boko Haram has also publicly threatened to sell these girls for as little as $12 apiece, stating that there is a “market for selling humans”. Boko Haram clearly recognizes that modern-day slavery is alive and well. Today it is estimated that over 27 million are enslaved around the world, and of those most are women and children.

A common form of modern-day slavery is child, early, and forced marriage. Child, early, and forced marriage is a widespread, harmful practice that threatens the lives and futures of girls and young women around the world. It affects an estimated 14 million girls each year. In Nigeria, approximately 39% of girls are married before their 18th birthdays and 16% are married before they turn 15.

Child, early, and forced marriage is a violation of human rights. It denies girls their childhoods. It disrupts or ends their education, jeopardizes their health, makes them more vulnerable to violence, and limits their participation in economic and social spheres. Child, early, and forced marriage also hinders development. When girls are not able to reach their full potential, everyone suffers: the girls, their families, their communities, and their countries.

Our government is standing up for these girls, even when it is not always popular or expedient to do so. In doing so, we have made ending the practice of child, early, and forced marriage a foreign policy and development priority.

Over the last two years, international momentum to address child, early, and forced marriage has been building. Canada has been instrumental in bringing world attention and action to this issue. For example, Canada led the international initiative to establish the annual International Day of the Girl Child in 2011, which focused on child, early, and forced marriage in its first year. A year later, Canada played an active role in the development of the first resolution focused on child, early, and forced marriage at the Human Rights Council. We also co-led with Zambia the first ever stand-alone resolution on this issue at the UN General Assembly last year. I am proud to say that both resolutions were adopted by consensus, with over 100 co-sponsors, thus putting the issue firmly on the international agenda for the first time.

Canada is also committed to intensifying our programming efforts to end child, early, and forced marriage globally. Through its children and youth strategy, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development works to strengthen and implement national protection frameworks to safeguard the rights of children and youth. The strategy also contributes to increasing girls' access to basic education, which can help prevent child, early, and forced marriage.

In 2013, DFATD spent over $1 million on programming supporting the implementation of the children and youth strategy. In addition, last October, the Minister of Foreign Affairs announced $5 million in programming support to help address the causes and consequences of child, early, and forced marriage in high-prevalence countries around the world.

Through the Canada fund for local initiatives, a fund that supports small-scale community projects around the world, Canada also works to address child, early, and forced marriage. For example, a project in northern Nigeria allowed the Centre for Girls Education to create safe spaces for community discussion about child, early, and forced marriage. Local mentors led weekly meetings with traditional and religious leaders and parents on the value of education for girls within communities. The Centre for Girls Education also led career workshops to showcase the benefits of girls staying in school.

On April 14, the Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that over the next two years, Canada will reallocate funds from our voluntary contribution to the Commonwealth toward supporting initiatives that espouse Commonwealth values. A large portion of these funds will be used to combat the practice of child, early, and forced marriage and to promote human rights, including in Nigeria.

Canada knows that the leadership of high-prevalence countries is critical to all successful efforts to address child, early, and forced marriage. Later this month, the African Union will launch a two-year campaign to end child, early, and forced marriage. We are impressed by the fierce determination of many affected countries, including in Africa, to lead the charge on this issue.

We are proud of the work we are doing to end child, early, and forced marriage and are committed to intensifying our efforts to help end this harmful practice worldwide. This intersects with Canadian work on women, peace, and security, including our active efforts to prevent sexual violence in conflict zones. Make no mistake, the kidnapping of these girl children was an act of sexual violence. Whether they have been abused sexually yet or not, the threat of sexual violence is very real.

I am proud that Canada has been in the vanguard of international efforts to address sexual violence. In September, at the United Nations General Assembly, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and others launched the Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, which has now been endorsed by 143 countries.

Our advocacy work continues. Next month, the Minister of Foreign Affairs will lead a Canadian delegation to the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in London, U.K. The summit will be the largest gathering ever on preventing sexual violence and will deliver practical coordinated action to make real impacts on the ground.

Beyond advocacy, Canada is working to address the issue of sexual violence through programming in specific countries of concern. Sexual violence is a serious violation of human rights. It exacerbates situations of conflict and inhibits peace, security, and development. Canada will continue to fight this violence.

This horrendous issue in Nigeria of these 278 children who were abducted by this terrorist group is something we should always hold in our thoughts and prayers. I am so proud that Canada, the U.K., the U.S., and other countries are taking action on a global level to find these girls. As each day passes, they continue to be in ever more danger.

I thank the Speaker for this debate tonight and members on all sides of the House for discussing this very important issue and putting the global spotlight on it.

[Mathieu Ravignat, NDP, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, like many people in Pontiac, I was very shocked to learn about this tragic story. I am the father of two little girls, Gabriella and Sophia. When I talked about it with Sophia, who is now going to school, she did not understand why other girls in the world could not go to school. She is four years old and already she understands the importance of going to school.

I congratulate the government on the measures it has taken so far. However, we also have to talk about promoting education. We have to talk about whether we need to invest in education in countries like Nigeria.

My hon. colleague, the NDP critic for foreign affairs, said it is important that we increase investment in education abroad by millions of dollars. I wonder whether my hon. colleague agrees with me that this investment is important.

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have just reiterated several facets to which Canada has contributed. Canada has put out a great deal of money, $66 million, and is the tenth largest contributor to Nigeria right now. This horrendous abduction of these innocent children is something that happens very often in Nigeria and other countries in conflict.

In a country like that, Canada has done much to address the issue of the health of children and babies. Maternal health is very important. To get them to school, they have to be healthy children. Education is a very important aspect. One of those little girls we were talking about was interviewed and said that she wanted to be a lawyer. She had run away. Fifty of them ran away. She ran through the bush as fast as she could, terrified. Now she is having trouble going back to any school. It is more than the educational part; it is the safety part and the health part and the education part. We, as a global community, and certainly as a great country, are contributing to that in a very specific way.

[Jim Hillyer, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have a letter from a Nigerian-born Canadian in my riding who is a founder of a charity that sets up rural schools in Nigeria. He and the Nigerian community in my riding and people from neighbouring countries are very concerned.

My colleague is a champion of human rights and is especially against human trafficking. He calls upon Canada to continue its influence, not just in Nigeria but with neighbouring countries, such as Cameroon, Niger, and Chad and the international community, such as the United Kingdom and the United States. He is calling on us to use our influence to inspire these countries to help us, because it is such a major issue.

Could the member please comment on why human trafficking, the kidnapping of these 300 girls, is worthy of this international attention?

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague very much for that very insightful question and for his work on the human trafficking file, which has been quite significant.

It is very important that we call it what it is. It is human trafficking. It is the abduction and buying and selling of girls, particularly, as sex slaves. It happens here in Canada. It happens in Nigeria. It happens in many countries. A country such as Nigeria also has severe poverty, child health issues, and childbirth issues that need to be addressed so the children can be healthy enough to go to school. It is a conflict country where terrorism is rampant and where they will blatantly go on TV and say, “We have captured these girls. They are our sex slaves”.

The globe is speaking out right now. Countries are speaking out right now. Members of Parliament in this House are speaking out, outraged by the human trafficking that is happening. It is very good that the focus is on human trafficking so that we can stop it worldwide.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with my colleague and friend, the member for Ottawa—Vanier.

Like all Canadians and people around the world, I am heartbroken about the abduction of schoolgirls in Nigeria. My thoughts and prayers are with the girls. I cannot begin to imagine how frightened they are. Their anguished families and communities and the people of Nigeria want to bring their daughters home.

In these girls, we see all our children, their hopes and their dreams, and our hearts ache. It is absolutely abhorrent that these girls are alleged to have been abducted to prevent them from attending school. Despite the fact that their school had recently been closed because of terrorist threats, they were so determined to have education they insisted on coming back for exams.

We must all work together to push for more action, both nationally and internationally, regarding this brutal act of violence, this crime, this terror attack, this unconscionable unending nightmare. We must all take whatever steps we can to ensure that the girls are returned to their families unharmed, and that they and all girls in Nigeria can continue their education in a safe environment.

As we all so tragically know, the militant Islamist group Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from a secondary school in remote northeastern Nigeria on April 14, and has since threatened to sell them into slavery. Another eight girls were taken from another village on May 5. We should all ask why Canada condemned a separate terrorist attack in Nigeria on April 14, but waited over two weeks to condemn the abductions of the schoolgirls. In fact, why did the international community at large wait for close to two weeks before expressing outrage?

The UN Secretary General is deeply concerned about the schoolgirls. He repeats, “...the targeting of children and schools is against international law and cannot be justified under any circumstances”. The UN is sending a high-level envoy to discuss how the world body can support the government of Nigeria.

The UN Security Council has also expressed its profound outrage, and condemned the abduction of the schoolgirls, demanded their immediate and unconditional release, suggested some acts may amount to crimes against humanity under international law, and that perpetrators must be held accountable.

Ensuring the return of the girls and holding perpetrators accountable goes a long way to ending impunity, and will send a strong message that Nigeria places paramount importance on the protection of girls.

The members of the Security Council have also expressed deep concern at the terrorist attacks conducted by Boko Haram since 2009, which have caused large-scale and devastating loss of life, and represent a threat to the stability and peace of central and west Africa.

The Nigerian president believes the girls are still in Nigeria. The United States, Britain and France have pledged to send specialist teams of intelligence and communications experts to help Nigeria search for the missing schoolgirls. American and British officials have already arrived in Abuja to supplement an American team already on the ground there. They will help Nigeria's government look for the missing girls, plan rescue missions and advise on ways to subdue Boko Haram. We have heard today that Canadians are on the ground and aiding in the effort to find the missing girls, and we are thankful.

There are tough questions being asked after an Amnesty International report accused Nigerian military commanders of knowing the terrorist group was on its way to raid the boarding school at least four hours before the girls were abducted, but not able to raise enough troops to respond. The military counters that it was asked to provide reinforcements that came under attack. CNN reports that what it is hearing on the ground supports the Amnesty International report.

The Nigerian government, which has come under growing criticism at home and abroad for being too slow to react, says that it does not believe the Amnesty International allegations are true, but it is investigating.

Sky News reported that the search for the schoolgirls was closing in on a huge forest near the border with Cameroon, and that the girls had been divided into at least four groups, which would make the rescue more difficult. BBC reported last night that the abducted girls had been sighted, and today we saw video of the children.

What makes the abductions so horrific is that they are not an isolated incident on our most vulnerable, on our most precious. Prior to 2011, most attacks on schools in the north targeted infrastructure and were carried out at night when schools were empty. However, since 2012, teachers and students are increasingly targeted by militants, resulting in abductions, killings and threats.

Between January and July 2013, more than 50 schools were attacked. Dozens of school teachers have been murdered, and universities have experienced heavy casualties by gunmen firing indiscriminately, and in some cases using bombs.

Nigeria has 10 million children out of school, the highest number in the world. Almost one in three primary aged children is out of school, and roughly one of four junior secondary aged children is out of school.

The clock is ticking. The more time passes the greater the risk, including the girls being sold into marriage or engaged in the worst forms of child labour, sexual exploitation and violence and recruitment into armed groups. The time to act is now.

The girls must be returned safe and sound. UNICEF, for example, stands ready to work with the Nigerian government and provide psychosocial care and other necessary assistance to the girls and their families.

An attack on one school, on one child, is an attack on every school and every child. When a school is under attack and students become targets, not only are their lives shattered, the future of their nation is stolen. There is a broader issue here: children's rights to live free from violence, and girls' right to an education. What happened to these schoolgirls could happen tomorrow to other girls in other countries.

Let us ensure the government supports the efforts of the Nigerian government to secure the girls safe return to the protection of their families. All of Canada's efforts should be undertaken in coordination with the government of Nigeria and key partners, and should be in line with the best interests of the girls and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

How is the government working with our allies to ensure that our efforts are coordinated and targeted and will help bring these girls home? Will Canada call on and support neighbouring countries such as Cameroon and Chad to coordinate search efforts with Nigerian authorities?

Whether it be Nigeria, the Central African Republic, South Sudan or Syria, the government should continue to call for compliance by all parties with international humanitarian law, including the prohibition of attacks on schools, students and teachers. Will Canada support the Nigerian government to bring the perpetrators to justice?

Let us, each and every one of us in the House, raise our voice through this hashtag, bring back our girls movement. Once the girls are safe, will Canada advocate for a post-2015 development goal and indicators that aim to end violence against all children? What will Canada commit to over the next four years at the global partnership for education replenishment meeting on June 26 in Brussels?

Fifty-seven million primary school-age children remain out of school, and half of these children live in conflict-affected areas and disaster zones. We hope that Canada will participate in the summit that will be hosted by France.

The failure to rescue the girls has sparked worldwide outrage. In the words of the Nigerian people, “Enough is enough, the abductions must stop”.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from Toronto for her passionate speech tonight. We are pleased to see that members of all sides of the House and the government have condemned the abduction of these young girls. I am happy to hear that our government has provided technical support. I hope this assistance is deployed as soon as possible. We are starting to hear that boots might be hitting the ground soon, which is very good.

It is a huge shock for all of us in Canada and around the world that these young girls have been taken just because they are young girls seeking an education. They were abducted to be enslaved into the sex trade and trafficked just because girls should not have an education. That is how Boko Haram feels.

Today I heard the news that Boko Haram was trying to negotiate. I firmly believe we should not be negotiating with such an organization.

We recognize that there is an urgent need to bring these girls back home safely to their mothers and families. What other steps does my colleague believe Canada should take as global citizens?

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we are pleased today to hear there are Canadian personnel on the ground providing surveillance and technical expertise. We have been asking the government to offer assistance since April 15. Canada should be at the summit. Canada needs to have a role in offering assistance for counterterrorism going forward. Canada should be playing a role education.

There are key questions we should be asking about Boko Haram. How does Boko Haram figure in the Government of Canada's counterterrorism work in West Africa? What projects does it have in Nigeria or West Africa to work against extremism? How does it build government's capacities? Specifically how does it work with the government of Nigeria? What is the government's opinion regarding the inability of the government of Nigeria to control part of its territory, given that Nigeria is a destination of Canadian investment and activity of Canadian extractive companies?

[Jim Hillyer, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's discussion on the history of kidnapping and human rights atrocities by terrorist groups in Nigeria. This is not the first incident. I appreciate her call upon Canada and the rest of the world to respond to these things sooner, to realize how terrible these situations are. If something like this happened here at home, it would not take two weeks for us say that this is a problem.

One of the things I appreciate about her historical approach is that in the 1990s Canada had a major role to play against the military regime in Nigeria. We called upon other countries to use diplomacy against that regime. Even though that was an illegitimate government, it was a government. This is a terrorist group and we need to treat it as such.

I would ask for the member's comments on this being not just an issue about bringing these particular people home, but part of an overarching war on terror.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, again, all of us are appalled or shocked that 276 children were taken from their dormitory when all they wanted was an education. Education should be a basic right. We know it empowers young girls and women. We want these children home. In a wider context, it has highlighted in long-standing security problem in Nigeria.

Boko Haram is a terrorist organization and these children have been taken by a terrorist organization. We want the abductors to immediately return the girls unharmed to their communities and for those with influence on the perpetrators to do everything they can to secure the safe return of the girls and to bring the abductors to justice. These are brutal acts of violence and they are unacceptable. Attacks on schools deny children the right to learn in a safe environment and can rob them of their future. Wherever it takes place, abduction of children is a crime and illegal under international law.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to participate in this debate. I thank the member for Ottawa Centre and his colleague from Laurier—Sainte-Marie for their remarks, and my colleague from Etobicoke North and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and for International Human Rights as well. I share all of their views with regard to the event that has been described, the kidnapping of close to 300 young women.

However, I want to go beyond that and say that there are some things that have been happening since then that are encouraging and others that are not encouraging and are troubling.

On the encouraging side, I want to comment on the fact that there are some Muslim organizations that have denounced this event. I think the more we hear from Muslim organizations, both in Canada and around the world, that denounce the actions of Boko Haram, the more encouraging that would be.

Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti, the top religious authority in Saudi Arabia, has condemned the attacks. The Council of American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, has condemned them, and so have the Council of Muslim Organizations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. These are organizations that did the right thing, and I would invite others to do the same because, as the Minister of the Environment said, there is a religious connotation to this that is very difficult, and the fact that young women would be converting under duress is absolutely insane. Any self-respecting religion would not seek to have people converting to it by such means.

In any event, that is one thing that I find encouraging.

The other thing that I find rather discouraging or troubling is the slowness in reaction, which has been mentioned here tonight, from the Nigerian government. A story published in today's local paper indicates that on April 15, the day after the event occurred, the United Kingdom offered help, and three days later, on April 18, made a formal offer of assistance. The U.S., through its embassy and staff in Nigeria in Abuja, did offer some help from day one, but it was a month later, Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, that the Government of Nigeria actually welcomed and accepted offers of help from, as I mentioned, Great Britain, the United States, Canada, France, and China.

The lateness and the slowness in reacting, I think, is troubling, and I would hope that there would be lessons learned from that.

The fact that Interpol, the international police agency of which Canada is a member, only offered help formally on May 9, almost a month later, is also very troubling because, again, we are not yet at the stage that military actions are deemed necessary; at least, no country has offered military assistance, except perhaps military know-how through communications or investigations. I know we have people from the United States and Great Britain and, I am hearing, from Canada on the ground today, and I expect some of them might be from the military, but it is not a military operation yet. It is an investigation to try to help the Nigerian authorities find these girls and then find a way to free them.

However, the fact that Interpol would take so long in making that offer is, I find, particularly troubling. I thought we could have acted perhaps a bit faster in Canada as well. I gather it was last week that we made an offer of help. If that is so, I would hope that we also would learn from that.

Another aspect has been mentioned to me by a few people I have talked with over the course of the last week. It is an awkward comparison. There was another incident in the world two months ago in which a similar number of people disappeared. I am talking about Malaysian flight 370, with 239 passengers on board including the 12 crew members.

The response was immediate from around the world. A number of countries immediately offered technical help and planes and boats to look for the aircraft. Four countries—Australia, Canada, the U.S., and Vietnam—spent $44 million in the first month alone searching for the plane, and the search continues two months later.

The urgency was the fact that the batteries in the black box would only work for a month. Therefore, it would be hard to find the remains of the people and to be able to bring closure to their families.

In contrast, here we have a situation of 276 young girls who are alive and have disappeared somewhere into the jungle. They are presumably still in Nigeria. They could also be in Chad or Cameroon, but we are not sure. We do not know exactly where they are, but I think there is an even greater urgency here for the world to act.

I also find the unwillingness of governments so far to actually put resources and money at the disposal of the appropriate authorities to help find these girls and rescue them rather troubling.

There is another example that I wanted to bring up. It concerns another kidnapping of a number of young girls, not in Nigeria, but in Uganda. It happened in October 1996, I believe. A total of 139 young girls were kidnapped. Thanks to one of the Italian nuns working in their school, who followed them into the jungle, 109 were returned. The other 30 remained prisoners. They were forced into becoming brides and were forced into doing sexual favours for Joseph Kony, who headed up the Lord’s Resistance Army.

That guy is still around. He has kidnapped hundreds, if not thousands, of youngsters throughout Uganda, South Sudan, Chad, the Central African Republic, and Somalia and turned them into soldiers. He has done so by forcing them to kill their friends or parents to make sure that they would remain at his service. Alternatively, he has turned them into his brides. The world has not yet taken on Joseph Kony properly.

What is the difference here? I am not too sure that I understand it. Maybe it is social media. It may be the ability of social media, which was not as prevalent in 1996 as it is today, to reach out to the world. We have now had thousands upon thousands of people, reaching into the hundreds of thousands, saying “bring back our girls”.

We have had these experiences before, in Africa and elsewhere, in conflicts, whether in Syria, the Central African Republic, or on other continents, when young boys and girls have been kidnapped and turned into soldiers or forced into providing sexual favours for soldiers. Only now are we finally acting, or I hope we are. I am certainly encouraging the government to act, whether we can offer help through direct services or through agencies.

That is one of the questions that this particular incident should force and encourage us to consider. To what extent are we going to help? To what extent will we, Canada and the world, want to help, and how? Do we want to do it directly, with some of our people and boots on the ground, as I have heard, and with our money, or do we want to do it through international organizations such as Interpol, NATO, and the UN? If so, how? Will we do it with our own people? Will we do it with money?

We would be well placed here to engage in Parliament and engage our citizens in determining how serious we are, and to what extent we want to commit to making sure that we will help a country whose children, girls and boys, get kidnapped at a young age to be turned into soldiers and to be sold, as Boko Haram has threatened.

It is absolutely unacceptable. Most Canadians would encourage us as a country to take a much more active role, whether directly or whether indirectly through organizations. I hope what we will learn from our participation will lead us to a greater ability to do what needs to be done to protect these young people.

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

Mr. Speaker, both my colleague and I were in Abuja three years ago, I believe, just around the time Goodluck Jonathan was campaigning to become President of Nigeria. We had some very interesting discussions with people in government there and with civil society.

Knowing that Canada is the tenth-largest donor to Nigeria, with some $66 million having gone into it in the last number of years, and knowing the situation in Abuja, I wonder if my colleague has any thoughts on how the Government of Canada might help in the long run. We have put considerable money into maternal, newborn, and child health initiatives and we have helped with some security development, but I wonder if my colleague has any thoughts that he would like to share with the House.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we have certain priorities. I tend to share the concern of my colleague from Ottawa Centre about education. In all countries around the world, if children are deprived of an education, then I wish them good luck, and I am not trying to be facetious with the President of Nigeria. Education is a primary objective. If we are not providing enough help on the educational side, then perhaps we should consider doing so.

I have no idea if anybody around the world right now has offered to replace the school or even if it is necessary to do so. I do not know if there are other schools to accommodate these young girls. If the school is going to be rebuilt there, then it has to be secure. That becomes an added component. Perhaps Canada could play a role there.

Unfortunately, in North America that is one of the realities that we have learned to cope with. We have had a few terrible incidents of people going into schools with guns and killing students. I know because I have grandkids who go to school, and I cannot get in there anymore unless I have a pass. There is greater security now in our school system. Perhaps we could share some of that experience, some of that knowledge, some of the techniques with other countries that need it.

The educational aspect is one that we should certainly not abandon and one that we should reconsider in some cases.

[Hélène LeBlanc, NDP, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Ottawa—Vanier for his speech, and all the members who have taken part or are now taking part in the emergency debate to raise questions about the tragic kidnapping of these young women.

I know that the member who just spoke has travelled in Africa. I would like him to tell us about the economic situation in Nigeria. Also, the present government has an increasing tendency to tie international co-operation to industry and industrial projects. I would like to hear his comments on that subject.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last month, or two months ago, I think, Nigeria became the biggest economy in Africa, essentially because of its natural resources. The population is in fact 135 million inhabitants, maybe more. It is therefore a large country.

On the first question I was asked, that is right, I was there three years ago and I went back to Abuja, the capital, where things are fine. Once you leave the capital, however, you see the reality, probably not just in Nigeria but in a number of countries in Africa. There is absolutely unbelievable inequality. There are houses that are virtual castles, and if you go barely a half hour down the road, maybe 10 minutes, you find yourself in the middle of a slum, in unsanitary villages.

The distribution of wealth we see in Nigeria is totally unfair and unequal. This is unfortunately one of the realities of Africa. African governments will have to learn to distribute that wealth better; otherwise, the end result will be tension and it may go beyond that to armed conflicts, as we can see in some countries.

When the Canadian delegation goes there, we try to encourage a better distribution of wealth and a degree of transparency. We are not opposed to the use of those resources, but we hope they will be used well and the revenue they generate will also be used well.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to engage in this debate on the crisis currently unfolding in Nigeria. I will be splitting my time with the member for Durham.

Like everyone else, the Government of Canada was shocked to hear of the abduction of nearly 300 school girls from the school in northeast Nigeria. The girls have been gone for nearly a month, four weeks during which heartbroken mothers and fathers have agonized over the fate of their stolen daughters, pleading, as all desperate parents would, for their safe and eventual return.

We still know very little about what happened, about where these girls were taken, about what their captors ultimately have in mind for them, but slowly the details are emerging, and these details are terrifying. We hear that teenage girls, no more than 16, 17, or 18 years old, will be sold, forced into marriage and robbed of their futures. They are on the cusp of joining the estimated 9.5 million young girls around the world who every year are made to become young brides against their will. This is utterly wrong, and we have a duty to say so.

The Government of Canada has made it a priority to end child early enforced marriage. Indeed, it is in line with Canadian values and ultimately in every nation's self-interest to protect the rights of all girls and help them fulfill their potential.

While in Nigeria last week, the Minister of International Development used the opportunity to meet government representatives, including Vice-President Namadi Sambo. During his meetings, the Minister of International Development offered Canada's continued assistance in the search for the missing girls. This partnership between our two countries is not something new. Canada has always been there for the government and people of Nigeria, having been very active in development work there.

We know that in many developing countries, children in general must overcome incredible odds just to survive. Without adequate health services, with little nutritious food to eat, more than six million children a year die before they reach the age of five. Also, it has been proven time and again that girls who are educated become women who earn more money and ultimately transform societies. The light of knowledge makes it possible to expose these bullies and cowards for what they are.

Canada too understands the power of education for these girls, and that is why Nigeria has long been the recipient of Canadian development assistance. It is worth pointing out that the violence in Nigeria has not deterred Canada from working towards its development goals. We remain committed to supporting the country's most vulnerable people.

While Nigeria just recently became Africa's largest economy, the rewards of such economic advancement have not yet flowed to its citizens. On the United Nations 2013 Human Development Index, Nigeria ranked 153rd out of 187 countries. More than three out of five Nigerians live on less than $1.25 a day. Women and children face particularly long odds in accessing health care, during pregnancy and delivery for mothers and for their kids during the critical first years after birth.

For the last 15 years, since the country returned to civilian rule, Canada has proudly partnered with Nigeria, particularly in the area of maternal, newborn, and child health. When the G8 launched the Muskoka initiative in 2010, Nigeria became, and still today remains, one of Canada's maternal, newborn, and child health countries of focus. Eighty percent of Canada's $1.1 billion in new funding for maternal, newborn, and child health programming is allocated to sub-Saharan Africa where the greatest burden of maternal and child mortality exists.

Nigeria has been a fortunate recipient. From 2010 to 2013, our Muskoka contributions helped to train 1,611 health workers, including nurses and midwives. They now have the skills to provide antenatal and delivery care to an estimated 100,000 pregnant women and newborns and to prevent transmission of HIV to an estimated 3,000 HIV-exposed infants.

The global community continues to chart a course for how best to reach millennium development goals 4 and 5 by 2015, and to build momentum for a meaningful global partnership that will keep maternal, newborn, and child health at the centre of the post-2015 development agenda.

As one step, Canada was pleased to renew its support to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria last December. As a key partner on maternal, newborn, and child health efforts, the global fund is saving 100,000 lives a month. Canada is proud to be contributing $650 million over the next three years to support the global fund's large-scale prevention, treatment, and care programs against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

Later this month, the Prime Minister will host an international maternal, newborn, and child health summit that will shape the future of child and maternal health collaborations in Canada and around the world. The summit, called “Saving Every Woman Every Child: Within Arm's Reach” will be held in Toronto May 28-30. It will build on Canada's leadership and chart the way forward in three key areas: delivering results for mothers and children, doing more together globally, and real action for women's and children's health. Saving the lives of women and children is not only a moral imperative, it is the foundation for building prosperous communities for this and future generations. This applies equally in Nigeria, all other parts of Africa and, indeed, all over the world.

Even the healthiest of citizens will struggle without opportunities to earn a living, and opportunities to earn a living will go unmet without citizens who are healthy and who possess the skills required to keep a steady job.

Like many other African countries, recent high economic growth rates in Nigeria have not always translated into reductions in unemployment and poverty. Many challenges persist, from broken infrastructure and financial systems to a weak business-enabling environment, to youth unemployment, to environmental threats, to volatile resource pricing and food instability. Canada is working hard with Nigerian officials to address these issues by aligning initiatives with national and regional plans in order to support the country's ownership of its own development. The need for meaningful, sustainable employment, especially for youth, is also a critical issue and is addressed through Canada's focus on sustainable economic growth.

Canada is supporting improved technical and vocational skills, and increased business opportunities for the Nigerian workforce, with the overall objective of increasing employment and improving prospects for disenfranchised youth.

Nigeria is a country blessed with enormous potential, enough to give its citizens hope for a better future. With a gross domestic product that reached $510 billion in 2013, it is a country on the rise, a huge marketplace. That should be the headline news, but it is not.

Instead, today, Nigeria is on the front page for all the wrong reasons. The violence in Nigeria has had serious consequences for the civilian population, especially people living in the northeast of the country, the area where violence is most intense. Six million people have been directly affected by the violence. Three hundred thousand had to leave their homes and seek refuge in other parts of Nigeria or in neighbouring countries. The vast majority of internally displaced people are women and children.

There is no place in this world for brutal terrorist regimes like Boko Haram, for groups that perpetuate violence against innocent civilians under the guise of it being their divine right, if not their divine obligation. Such groups, such cruelty, such blatant disregard for human rights cannot be tolerated. That is why Canada is doing everything it can to help Nigeria bring back those girls.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech, which was full of very interesting information.

We know that one of the major issues relates to the question of governance, human rights, and the rights of women in particular, and we see this in the present situation in Nigeria. In 2011-12, Canada gave Nigeria $48 million in aid, if I recall correctly.

In terms of that envelope, I would like to know what Canada is doing regarding support for civil society, respect for human rights, respect for women’s rights and good governance.

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

Mr. Speaker, actually, it was $66 million we have spent in development issues in Nigeria. Obviously, a lot of that money has been focused on maternal, newborn, and child health. We know that so many of the women there are facing lack of opportunity for services.

When I was in Abuja, I spoke with a doctor at the embassy. We met there and had a conversation about the situation for young girls. He told us that one of the reasons so many young girls die in childbirth is they are very young. Many of these girls are between the ages of 12 and 14 and they just do not have access to health care services. We are focused on that. We know the job is not yet done, which is the very reason why the Prime Minister has said we will host this summit in Toronto at the end of May. We want to galvanize global attention on putting money toward saving more moms in childbirth and having more children reach their fifth birthday.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Parliamentary Secretary for the information she has provided tonight.

Canada, the European Union, and the United States have already designated Boko Haram a foreign terrorist organization. Canada's Criminal Code criminalizes membership in Boko Haram, as well as the transfer of money to support it.

It is now being reported that Boko Haram may have laid land mines in the jungle of northeast Nigeria to spoil attempts to free the schoolgirls. I am wondering if the Parliamentary Secretary could confirm whether this is correct or not and if so, what the anticipated consequences for the operation are.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would have to look into that and get back to my colleague. However, I would like to take the opportunity just to say that we condemn the use of land mines and I am sure our government will want to be involved in ensuring that those terrible and devastating things are not used anywhere.

I would like to use this moment though to talk about the need for education and how much Canada has supported education globally. My own daughter is a teacher in Ghana, West Africa right now. Ghana is not very far away from Nigeria, so I have some real concerns about the things that are going on in that part of the world. My daughter has given me lots of insight into the schools. Of course, in Ghana, they are in a very safe place, but the situation in the schools is so needy.

My daughter has been home for the last three weeks on a break between semesters. We spent some time on Saturday just going to the Teacher's Supply Store in Toronto to purchase things that she is going to take back. Fundamentally, she has a chalkboard and a piece of chalk. Those are all the supplies she has in her classroom. Therefore, we are sending her back with a barrel that will be full of supplies for the school where she is teaching.

Obviously, all of us would like to see the children of Nigeria, of any of these African countries, have access to better education. They need qualified teachers and I am hopeful that is an area where Canada will be able to help.

The foreign affairs committee is about to undertake a study, at my request, on education in particular. There are some smaller things that we are going to be looking at as well, but I look forward to that study and how Canada can put forward some recommendations.

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in the House tonight with a mixture of emotions, in this critical debate on this profoundly disturbing subject. First, I stand in solidarity with my colleagues on all sides of this place, who find the events of April 14 and the weeks since, abhorrent and repugnant. We feel the need to do something.

I echo the sentiments of many of my colleagues tonight. On April 14, terror was struck in the hearts and minds of young girls, but also their families, with 100 to 300 young girls taken from a school in Nigeria. Even that report is concerning because it took weeks to truly ascertain the number, and for the government of Nigeria to start talking publicly about this brash kidnapping, the snatching of girls, and their potential sale. The events are so abhorrent to any civilized society in any democracy.

It is also unfortunate that it took so long for the global community to become attuned to this act of profound terror. In fact, some commentators have said that throughout April there was more time spent on a missing airliner, of which everyone knew the people on board could no longer be saved. There was more time and attention paid to that, and that puts it in perspective. I am glad that the member for Ottawa Centre and others have put this on our national agenda, where it should be.

I also stand before the House as a father of a young girl of seven years old, Molly. She is the apple of my eye, someone I left at home before school this morning because I had to leave early to come to Ottawa. The very principles of safety and security of our children is probably a common theme among parents, from Canada to Nigeria. I can only empathize with the absolute terror that the families of these girls must be feeling, and the profound sense of impotence they have in not being able to provide basic security to their children.

It is also important to note that these girls were taken from a school. Their parents have sought the best for them. They were pursuing the goals that are universal human rights in this world. Not only was their right of liberty stolen from them, but the message being sent by Boko Haram was one of terror, not just in physical threat, but to cast fear in those pursuing the best for their children, including our girls. These are so fundamental to our principles as Canadians that they truly shock us to our foundations.

I stand as a member of Parliament in this place and am proud that our government and Canada have joined with the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, China, and other nations, that have pledged support to the government of Nigeria, to try to not only locate and bring these girls back to their homes, but to deal with Boko Haram, the group that took them.

As many members of the House have noted, our government immediately offered surveillance equipment in helping to track this terror organization. Beyond that, we also have provided training and operators to help bring that expertise to the ground immediately. Our expertise, particularly on some of the things related to surveillance and intelligence gathering, has been instantly brought to bear on the ground in the country and, I would say, in bordering countries. Boko Haram has also been a threat to Cameroon, Niger, and the whole region. We stand willing to work with our allies and with the government of Nigeria on that.

It is good to note that Canada has a strong relationship with Nigeria. We are the tenth-largest donor to that country on a general annual basis. There has been $66 million in aid delivered in the last fiscal year to that country, on a variety of fronts. That has included education, so that young girls like the ones who were snatched can pursue their full potential as young people in that country, but also in our worldwide fight to end child, early, and forced marriage. Sadly, these issues have been interspliced, as these girls were taken and then forced into horrific relationships and unspeakable harm.

It is also important to call out Boko Haram for what it is. It is a terror group that strikes at the basic fundamentals of our society. We should pursue organizations like this with unrestrained vigour until they are eliminated. It is terror.

It is ironic that just on Friday, at our National Day of Honour, we paid tribute to the 40,000 men and women of the Canadian Forces who spent time on the ground in Afghanistan. That was part of the initial war on terror after September 11, when a failed state allowed al-Qaeda to train within it, to a point that it struck not just at western values, as in this case in Nigeria, but at the western world itself. It is sad that sometimes it takes us to be shaken out of our complacency, from the lovely distance we have from some of this terror.

Here we have been thrust into it, and we should say it for what it is. Boko Harm takes its name from the term “forbidden”. “Haram” means “forbidden”. Locals have called it Boko Haram because they feel that western education is forbidden. That is the root of the term. It is a perverse group that uses terror not just to strike fear, but to actually keep people in that country subjugated. It is terrible.

It is a group that has attributed 10,000 deaths to its activities in Nigeria and countries in the region. Canada placed Boko Haram on its list of known terror organizations in 2013. It is important to reiterate that wherever there are groups such as this, Canada should play a role, alongside our allies, and of course in this case working directly with the Nigerian government, to ensure that these groups cannot operate with impunity. As we have seen, from 2009 to today, this group has escalated in its violence and its acts of terror.

Another interesting development is “hashtag diplomacy”. Some have suggested that it does not play a role and it is just raising awareness, but it is doing more than that. From the First Lady of the United States to the Pope, the awareness has helped shake the complacency that sometimes sets in in the western world, thinking that we are far removed from these gathering threats of terror that occupy developed or challenging states.

Hashtag diplomacy not only affects prominent people like popes and presidents, it also impacts people in my riding of Durham. I would like to compliment the grade seven and eight students at the Good Shepherd Catholic School, in Port Perry, who asked to meet with me on this very subject to ask what Canada can do to help save our girls.

In some ways, hashtag diplomacy seems so far removed from the terror that many Nigerian families are feeling. However, if it raises this issue, much in the way that my colleagues and I are debating this tonight, we will hopefully get to a state where groups like Boko Haram cannot operate in such fashion because the global community will condemn the conduct.

I also want to urge this House and the people watching this debate to remember that tolerance and education are Canadian values. It is appropriate to conclude with the remarks that His Holiness the Aga Khan delivered in this House just a few months ago, in February. It is important to show that Boko Haram has twisted a religious faith and does not represent the faith of Islam. The Aga Khan said in this place:

It has become commonplace for some to talk about an inevitable clash of the industrial West and Islamic civilizations. But Muslims don't see things in this way. Those whose words and deeds feed into that point of view are a small and extreme minority. For most of us, it is simply not true. We find singularly little in our theological interpretations that would clash with other...faiths — [...]

He went on to add:

Yet sadly, what is highly abnormal in the Islamic world gets mistaken for what is normal.

Let us not mistake the abhorrent actions of Boko Haram as we move forward to shut down this terror group, and recognize that diversity, tolerance, and strength, which are Canadian values, should be global values.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the different comments we heard from around the world are interesting. My colleague mentioned some very prominent people who spoke and used, as he said, the hashtag diplomacy, and by the way, I agree with him on his comments.

A young girl also spoke out, the young girl who captured all of our imaginations, Malala. She said very eloquently and simply that if we remain silent, this will happen more and more. She really nailed it. We all have to speak out again this to make sure it does not happen again.

I want to ask my colleague what more we can do. One of the things we have done in the past, and it was actually with Nigerian personnel, was in the AU-UN mission in Darfur. We trained Nigerians to help in that mission, particularly around police training, something the Nigerian government obviously needs help with. Knowing the background, would he think this is something we could help with?

Secondly, where does he believe Canada should be in terms of the global education fund? We have asked that his party support the ongoing commitment to Global Partnership for Education to the tune of $30 million—