OTTAWA-
Opposition parties and aid groups say the Trudeau government is slow to create exemptions from anti-terror laws to allow humanitarian groups to reach desperate people in Afghanistan.
“There is nothing but political will that interferes with solving this problem,” said NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson.
In June, a cross-party committee called on the government to amend the Penal Code so that major humanitarian groups can help Afghans without being accused of aiding the Taliban.
Representatives from 10 humanitarian groups told MPs in March that Global Affairs Canada told them they would not be able to pay a driver to deliver food or buy supplies inside Afghanistan because that would incur taxes sent to the Taliban.
That would mean supporting the terrorist group, which has been listed as such in Canadian law since 2013.
Liberal MP Salma Zahid, who was part of the special parliamentary committee, said Canada must find an alternative solution like its allies did to ensure much-needed aid is delivered.
“I think the Minister of Public Security and the Minister of Justice are investigating it,” he said in an interview Thursday.
“They have to find some solutions.”
The issue became well known last December when the UN Security Council issued a waiver of anti-terrorism sanctions on the Taliban that allowed humanitarian aid to reach Afghanistan.
In June, Australia invoked that resolution to get help for Afghanistan, while the US and the European Union changed their rules to ensure humanitarian groups could respond.
That same month, government officials warned Foreign Minister Melanie Joly about the challenges facing Canadian organizations in Afghanistan before meeting with former Afghan parliamentarians.
“There is no ability to provide exemptions under current Canadian law,” reads a briefing note obtained through an access to information request.
“The need for mitigation measures places serious limitations on the humanitarian and development activities that the government can support and the organizations that Canada can partner with.”
International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan said the Liberals plan to amend the law, but was unable to explain why the departments that handle the Penal Code have not moved.
“They are working on options right now with the ministers of Public Security and Justice,” Sajjan said in an interview Thursday.
Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino’s office gave no explanation for the heist or a timeline, and did not confirm that Ottawa actually intends to amend current laws.
“We continue to explore new ways to support Afghans while respecting Canada’s Criminal Code,” spokeswoman Audrey Champoux wrote.
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment by the deadline.
“I, as the minister for international development, have to work within the current laws that we have,” Sajjan said.
He stressed that the government has found ways to deliver $144 million in aid to Afghans through organizations that can meet Canada’s standards. Much of that goes to Afghans who have fled their country; the rest is largely acquired by the UN thanks to the Security Council exemption.
“I just want to emphasize that it does not prevent us from providing the funds to the Afghan people themselves,” Sajjan said.
Humanitarian groups say otherwise, arguing that their hands are tied as desperation mounts.
This month, a coalition of 18 groups, including the Canadian Red Cross and Islamic Relief, denounced the “disheartening lack of urgency for liberals to act to remove barriers.”
In late August, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said that more than half of the Afghan population, some 24 million people, are in need of assistance and close to 19 million face acute levels of food insecurity.
On Tuesday, the UN warned that drought, economic turmoil and high oil prices will only worsen the situation as winter sets in.
Conservative Senator Salma Ataullahjan said the government must implement a solution this fall to help the millions of people who are struggling.
“Especially, I think about women, I know how difficult it is to function in that society if you don’t have a man,” she said.
The party’s foreign affairs critic noted that aid groups were raising the Penal Code issue months before his testimony this spring.
“They’ve had a long time to fix the problem,” said Michael Chong, who argued the Liberals should have had legislation ready to introduce when the House resumed this month.
“This inability to execute something that everyone agrees on is part of a larger pattern in this government of not being able to implement policies,” he said.
“This government fights to put words into action.”
Instead of incompetence, McPherson put it down to indifference.
“There’s no way it’s going to take them this long to figure this out,” he said.
“I have spoken to Liberal Members of Parliament who are appalled at their own government for not doing anything about it.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on September 30, 2022.