Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for raising this issue of the situation in South Sudan. I agree on many of the points with respect to the situation in South Sudan. Due to the conflict and other reasons, it is deteriorating very badly and requires attention. I can tell her in no uncertain terms that, contrary to what she has been telling us—that Canada is not involved—Canada has been involved in South Sudan from the day that country became independent. Prior to that, Canada was one of the major countries, not only as a donor but in assisting toward achieving peace.
I myself have visited that country twice. Following the birth of this nation, we had great hopes that this would move forward. Unfortunately, the political infighting that has taken place has really put South Sudan way back with respect to development assistance.
Together with its partners, Canada has been working to see what is the best way forward, working with the Government of South Sudan in moving forward to meet its development assistance needs.
It is true that the UN is there now to stop the fighting.
Some good news that I want to share with the hon. member, which came yesterday, was that both parties who were fighting have agreed to peace in Addis Ababa, led by the African Union. Hopefully, that peace will work toward assuring a climate where all the assistance we have been giving reaches its destination.
Making announcements or attending donor conferences is not the one effective way to reach out or to offer assistance. Rather, it is to work together jointly with the other partners that we have identified. In the case of South Sudan, we have identified partners and what we can do.
Only two weeks ago in Calgary I announced development assistance to the Red Cross so it can use mobile units for the child maternity cases in South Sudan. We are working with our NGO partners. Canada is on the ground in South Sudan. We hope that the people of South Sudan very quickly resolve their differences and move forward, and that the situation, as the hon. member has described, is averted, most importantly the humanitarian crisis.