Foreign Affairs committee  Let me try to answer that, and maybe I can ask an expert to come forward if you need more detail. Basically, what has happened is that the moneys that you are referring to have indeed been used—

Foreign Affairs committee  —to lease helicopters and they have been available. It was about $40 million over the first six months and another $40 million in the last six months of this year. Now that we're—

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, we did.

Foreign Affairs committee  They are. Now, the question that has been facing the new UN mission, which is a much more—

Foreign Affairs committee  Well, we were supplying helicopters to the AMIS mission.

Foreign Affairs committee  Now the new mission will be a UN paid-for and organized joint program.

Foreign Affairs committee  We will not be.

Foreign Affairs committee  Do we have helicopters available? No, we do not. That's why we have to lease them.

Foreign Affairs committee  For the new mission.

Foreign Affairs committee  Our helicopters are currently still in use.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for that question. Yes, indeed, we have reduced the time. I won't hide from you the fact that it has required an enormous effort. The increase in the number of passports issued over the last year indicates the size of the increase in demand. We have actually issued

Foreign Affairs committee  Let me try to provide examples in both cases. With respect to Afghanistan, of course, we all recognize that security has been the first requirement in that country, particularly in the south with the very unstable conditions that exist there. Providing security to the region t

Foreign Affairs committee  I would just assure the member that in fact Canada is broadly supporting the UN, the African Union, and other international efforts to implement a four-pronged strategy. We are focusing on a reinvigorated ceasefire; a renewed political process, under UN and NATO leadership; and s

Foreign Affairs committee  I fully understand the concern of the member in asking the question. The decisions of the government with respect to cuts made over the past couple of years are tough decisions, every one of them. We don't always make them with a lot of pleasure, but we have to make cuts as manag

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I'm very pleased to be here today to discuss the supplementary estimates of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. More and more, what happens abroad affects every dimension of Canadian life. It's therefore important to keep