In recent years, as many as 400,000 Sudanese blacks have been killed in a genocidal campaign supported by Sudan's Arab-dominated government. Now, suddenly, Paul Martin has realized it might be time for Canada to do something about it.

To be fair, Darfur was on Paul Martin's radar back in December, when he visited Sudan to urge an end to the slaughter. But that doesn't stop a certain smell from hanging over both the timing of his new initiative and the way we're learning about it.

Back when he was a Liberal MP representing an Edmonton riding, David Kilgour was as vocal as anyone in advocating some form of Canadian intervention in Sudan. And yet, as far as anyone can tell, he was never given any clear indication from the PM that anything concrete was in the offing.

In an article that appeared in these pages last month, Mr. Kilgour specifically cited Sudan as one of the reasons he'd left the government caucus to sit as an independent. "Nowhere is our foreign policy vacuum more evident than in Sudan," he wrote. "Canada must finally assume an effective leadership role with the African Union, NATO and the UN in order to bring the systematic killing and raping of innocent civilians to a halt."

Two weeks later, Mr. Kilgour was among the first to know that Canada was now assuming the leadership role he'd been calling for. At a dinner with Mr. Martin and retired general (and newly minted senator) Romeo Dallaire on Tuesday night, the MP was apparently told that Canada would be assisting African Union efforts in Sudan with cash and personnel.

By Thursday, Mr. Kilgour had shared the good news, and the PM was all but acknowledging that a Darfur plan would soon be forthcoming. Reports were also circulating that more assistance for the war-torn region had been used as a bargaining chip by Mr. Kilgour to secure his support - desperately needed by the Liberals to help keep their government from falling - in upcoming parliamentary votes.

Mr. Martin, of course, denies this, his spokesman pointing out that Mr. Kilgour's extensive knowledge of African issues made him a natural to consult with. But back when he was in the government caucus and the Liberals weren't on the verge of falling, he didn't seem to have nearly the clout he does now.

One would like to believe Mr. Martin is motivated solely by humanitarian concerns. But while that might have been possible a couple of years ago, you'd have to have your head pretty far in the sand to believe that's all that's behind this planned initiative.

This is the same prime minister who threw the entire equalization formula out of whack, turning federal-provincial politics into an ugly free-for-all so he could win a few extra seats in Atlantic Canada. The same PM who, to give his government a modest chance of staying alive for a few extra months, tore up his own budget and adopted the NDP's spending priorities. The same PM who sunk missile defence to get a cheerier party convention. The same PM who ... well, you get the picture.

Even setting aside Mr. Kilgour's role, the timing is suspect. Their massive spending spree falling flat, the Liberals need some sort of grandiose gesture to get Canadians talking about something other than Adscam. Leading a major international effort would seem to do the trick.

The motives, obviously, are not as important as the end result: If Mr. Martin somehow manages to spur peace in Darfur (or something approaching it), nobody will care what the politics behind Canada's role were. And full credit to Mr. Kilgour for using his newfound clout to try to save lives, rather than advance some minor pet cause or put a few extra infrastructure dollars into his riding.

It would be surprising, though, if a slap-dash initiative aimed at saving the Liberals' skins - one that, according to reports, will involve fewer than 100 military advisors and some extra relief dollars - proved a cure-all for one of the world's worst trouble spots. But not as surprising as a government that has become so fragile that it seems willing to let a single independent MP guide what, in this country, passes for a major foreign policy initiative.