Statement made on 05 November 2009 by Senator Roméo Dallaire
Hon. Roméo Antonius Dallaire:
Honourable senators, my question is directed to the Leader of the Government in the Senate. In 2005, I was given the responsibility by then Prime Minister Martin to lead a team into Darfur and Sudan to look at how Canada could support the nascent African Mission in Sudan — AMIS, created by the African Union — to stop the slaughter, displacement, and ultimately the destruction, of nearly 2.5 million Darfurians as they were attacked by the police and government forces from Sudan. We deployed armoured vehicles, thousands of pieces of equipment, training capabilities and about $200 million worth of aid.
Now that that United Nations force is building, we are pulling out the armoured vehicles. We do not want to maintain the vehicles or replace them, and thus we are reducing the capability of the force.
I received word directly from the Prime Minister's Office that the Minister of Foreign Affairs was replacing us because we are no longer needed. Can the leader explain why we are reducing our capabilities in an effort that has been ongoing for nearly seven years?
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