National Defence committee  Merci beaucoup, monsieur le président. Thank you to the members of the committee for inviting me to appear before you. Peacebuild/Paix durable is a network of about 70 Canadian organizations and individuals involved in a range of activities related to peace and conflict situat

National Defence committee  I'll start, Mr. Wilfert, if I may. I think international peace and security, writ large, is in our national interest. In some particular situations we have more direct national interest in investment and trade. I think we have a national interest in responding to the will of the

National Defence committee  Quite frankly, I don't understand that criticism. In certain circumstances there are capabilities within NATO and the African Union, and a certain aspect related as well to political legitimacy when it comes to the African Union's involvement in these types of operations within A

National Defence committee  I think it's dependent on the situation. We've been very much caught up in Afghanistan and the particular examples of Afghanistan. Situations are different in different parts of the world and that fact must be recognized. In some cases, it is perfectly safe for NGOs to be workin

National Defence committee  We can conceive of it because it has already been done. Recently, I feel, we have seen a change in the attitude of the Americans. They are now talking more of a multinational approach. I think much of the world is more comfortable with that approach after the setbacks we have see

National Defence committee  I certainly have views on that. I think Parliament should be as involved as possible in tracking, information gathering, and analyzing situations as they evolve, on a regular basis.

National Defence committee  I would suspect that parliamentarians have a wide range of interests in these issues, that there are values and there are interests related to Canada's economy, Canada's alliances, and so on. I think there's a way to sort of differentiate between values and some of these other th

National Defence committee  I think we've been through an extraordinary period since 9/11, and this has changed the direction that began at the end of the Cold War. I think we're continually going through a readjustment, and the current readjustment that is out there is the Americans returning to more of a

National Defence committee  In your study you focused on peace operations post-2011. I think one thing you might want to consider, and this might sound a little bit off the wall, is the possibility of progress toward a political settlement within Afghanistan, greater involvement of the United Nations in lea

National Defence committee  I'd agree very much with the idea that Parliament should be leading on this kind of issue. I think part of what you're doing here with this study and other studies that the committee undertakes is part of that process. I'd also make a pitch for talking more with NGOs and with aca

National Defence committee  I would agree with you on that. I think any new situation is going to be difficult. I think there's perhaps a problem arising where we're looking for the perfect situation for Canada to get involved in. That ain't going to happen. It's going to be a place where we don't have the

National Defence committee  I think Jack Granatstein said he wasn't qualified to answer that question.

National Defence committee  But I'll take it at a different angle. As far as the intelligence establishment, I'm not qualified to answer that question either, but I certainly have opinions about what could be done to increase the knowledge of parliamentarians, the media, and the bureaucracy in these kinds o

National Defence committee  As far as countries intervening in DRC--the neighbours, for various reasons--one of the few avenues we have is diplomatic pressure on the Ugandans or the Zimbabweans. That's very limited, but sanctions are another possibility in these kinds of situations. I think there is a range

National Defence committee  There are different frameworks, different criteria that have been developed within the Canadian bureaucracy by academics and so on. I think these need more work, and they need more weighting in particular areas. The risks will be different in different situations, and all these d