Madam Speaker, I would like to focus on an aspect of the good work that the Office of Religious Freedom did, because the hon. member is making a very good point that is worth reviewing for the sake of the exact kind of appeal that has been made and to indicate that we are listening and do wish to go further.
On January 31, Boko Haram attacked Dalori, a village on the outskirts of Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria, and massacred 86 children, women, and men. This group is responsible for many despicable acts in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. The Minister of Foreign Affairs condemned these attacks in Nigeria in a press release, in which he offered his sincere condolences to the families and friends of those killed and wished a strong recovery to the many injured.
Canada is deeply concerned by these continuing atrocities. Boko Haram is responsible for more than 6,600 deaths in a single year, making it the deadliest insurgent group in the world outside of Iraq and Syria, and this must stop. Nigeria and its neighbours around Lake Chad are determined to eradicate Boko Haram. Canada and the international community are supporting the Lake Chad Basin allies in their fight.
We are actively engaged with our international partners as the co-chair of the Sahel Working Group of the Global Counterterrorism Forum. Since 2010, Canada has committed over $37 million toward assisting vulnerable countries around the world to fight terrorism through the counterterrorism capacity-building program. In the Lake Chad Basin, the counterterrorism capacity-building program has provided training to Nigerian law enforcement personnel on analysis, investigation, and interview techniques. Nigeria also received training through Canadian support to Interpol, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the Institute for Security Studies Africa. Canada participates annually in a military exercise called Flintlock that develops capacity in collaboration among African forces.
Millions of people living in the Lake Chad Basin are affected by Boko Haram's terror. In response to this, Canada provided over $11 million in humanitarian assistance in 2015 to help those who have been forced to flee their homes.
In its efforts to combat Boko Haram's history of inter-communal violence in the region, Canada, through the Office of Religious Freedom, supported a two-year project to promote interfaith dialogue and conflict mediation in Plateau State, Nigeria. We are well aware of the good work it has done.
The project successfully developed a community-based mechanism to help defuse tensions between different religious and ethnic groups, and has been used by the Nigerian government on various occasions, including in response to attacks and bombings in Jos and in the lead up to Nigeria's elections in March 2015. While this phase of the project concluded in January 2015, our government is pleased that Canada has been able to continue to support this model for inter-communal dialogue in neighbouring conflict-affected regions in Nigeria through Canada's global peace and security fund.
Human rights are universal, interdependent, and indivisible. The promotion and protection of human rights, including freedom of religion and belief, is an integral part of Canada's history and constructive leadership in the world. The government is currently examining its options on how best to build on the good work that has been done so far and enhance efforts to champion peaceful pluralism, respect for diversity, and human rights.
Terrorism today is a long-term global challenge, requiring a consistent, comprehensive, and coordinated international response, and that is what Canada is actively doing, together with our allies and partners around the world.
