Mr. Chair, first let me correct the premise of the purpose of Operation Aegis. It wasn't just to evacuate Afghans; it was also to evacuate Canadian citizens and Canadian entitled people. It's interesting to note that those listed on the ROCA, the registration of Canadians abroad, went up exponentially in the days after Kabul fell. I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but we were dealing with what we thought was a certain number, and that number went up exponentially, in terms of those who wanted to get out.
As for the criterion for what constitutes an enduring relationship, it was generally a witness statement from somebody who had served with a member. I, myself, received many emails from Afghans I had served and worked with, and I would vouch for their credibility. Yes, they did serve with Canadians. Yes, they did serve with the Canadian Forces. You would say, “I served with this individual for this period,” and that would form the basis of the validation—that coupled with the employment records we had.
Now you also have to realize that some of the employment records we had were 10 to 15 years old, in some cases in digitized form, and difficult to recover. It was a combination of this type of information—records, plus personal attestations.