Foreign Affairs committee  I wrote them down. You see, I used to be an official, not a politician, so I wrote the questions down.

Foreign Affairs committee  I want to add to the point about commitment. The dog that doesn't bark in this whole debate is what John alluded to in his comments. There is no question that the commitment in Afghanistan has been distracted by events in Iraq by the number one player in the military mission and

Foreign Affairs committee  I would add, first of all, that improving governance is obviously a top priority from a Canadian perspective, as we understand it. I just wanted to add that it's my understanding, Mr. Chairman, that it was a Canadian firm, a Montreal-based firm, that provided all of the basic s

Foreign Affairs committee  I'd like to add a little point to this, if I may.

Foreign Affairs committee  You have three of us here, so you have to make allowance for that.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, but a nine-minute question at least deserves a nine-minute response.

Foreign Affairs committee  There is a bit of a philosophical debate about signature projects—yes or no. And we know there's a prevailing view, hard in CIDA itself, resisting that. But the point we're trying to make is that if three-quarters of the assistance Canada is giving to Afghanistan is going through

Foreign Affairs committee  I would like to conclude the non-political discussion we just had by quoting my chairman. It's always useful, with a former deputy prime minister, to quote him: If we are not willing to lend our military resources when asked to do so by the United Nations, in a mission coordina

Foreign Affairs committee  I'll just add a point on the corruption issue, and I do it with some sensitivity to the fact that you're all elected members of Parliament. You have to understand that some of the people who have been involved with practices that we want to condemn were elected to the national

Foreign Affairs committee  I would just reinforce the view that this is the most dangerous region in the world. You have nuclear weapon states surrounding Afghanistan—some actual, some potential. Unquestionably, the open border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is, next to the shortage of troops, probably t

Foreign Affairs committee  We did recommend a specific date for the conditions we set. We did say we should get this support in terms of troops and new equipment for the Canadian Forces by February 2009. Otherwise, Canada should serve notice of its intent to transfer responsibility for security in Kandahar

Foreign Affairs committee  I would just add in answer to the second part of your question, Mr. Patry, that I think, first of all, the most essential ingredient for development in Kandahar is security. Without security, there can be no development. Rather than being critical of what CIDA is doing, I think