Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to be here early in the evening like this.
The situation in the Central African Republic is deeply disturbing for Canada and for Canadians. The Central African Republic is a country where religions once coexisted in peace and mutual respect. It is troubling to see how quickly this situation has deteriorated into conflict and violence.
To this day, the looting, rapes, and indiscriminate killings continue. Sadly, more than one million people have been forcibly displaced as a direct result of violence.
This situation must stop. Canada has strongly condemned the violence in the Central African Republic, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and to end the cycle of violence. The government has supported international efforts to stop the conflict, promote the protection of civilians, and to help the most vulnerable have access to life-saving assistance.
For example, last December, our country was the first country to contribute to the UN trust fund in support of the African Union peace mission in the Central African Republic, or MISCA, as it was called. The government gave $5 million to support African Union troops with vital communications equipment to enable them to accomplish their missions and help the people of the Central African Republic.
Since the start of 2013, Canada has contributed over $23 million for humanitarian assistance. This assistance is providing food, water, sanitation, health care, and protection services to those most in need. We are also funding air transportation, so that humanitarian workers are able to get safely in and out of remote and insecure regions of the CAR where people are in the most desperate need of help. In sum, through our financial assistance, Canada has been making a difference, especially in the lives of those most vulnerable.
As colleagues in the House are aware, the United Nations Security Council agreed, in April, to create a UN mission to replace MISCA in September 2014. My colleague was speaking to that. This new mission, called MINUSCA, has a broad mandate, which includes the protection of civilians, support for a political transition, support for humanitarian assistance, and the promotion and protection of human rights and the rule of law.
The UN team was recently on the ground in the Central African Republic to finalize the operational planning for MINUSCA. Based on this recent assessment, the UN will begin to ask member states to support the specific needs of this mission. Based on these needs, our government will decide on how Canada can best contribute to that mission.
As we have already stated publicly, Canada will not be sending companies or infantry troops of the Canadian Armed Forces. However, there are other ways in which we can and will support the UN mission and the overall objective of ending the conflict in the Central African Republic. As we did when the EU mission was established in December, the government will respond expeditiously in support of the new UN mission.