Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to start off with two things.
I'd like to speak directly to you, Mr. Faizi, Mr. Khan and Mr. Shoaib, and say two things.
First, thank you for your service alongside our men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces, our aid workers, our diplomats and our presence in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2014, the largest mission Canada has ever engaged in beyond our shores. You were part of that mission and, as Ms. Kwan said, you were part of our Canadian Armed Forces to make sure that we could have interpretation and cultural outreach and do the work we did.
The second thing I want to say is this. I want to apologize on behalf of Canada. We have failed interpreters and many contractors going back many years. It's been horrible watching the fall of Kabul, the scramble and, in your words, Mr. Khan, to listen to your “cries” and to see inaction. It's unacceptable, I think, to all parties and all parliamentarians, past and present, so I offer my apologies.
The intention of this committee is to find out how we failed, where we dropped the ball and how we can remedy the situation and quickly provide as much help as possible to the people who have been left behind.
My question to you, Mr. Faizi, is this. You would have come in under the 2009 program. You arrived in 2011. That program required only 12 months of cumulative service as an employee or contractor, an injury or individualized risk and some sort of positive recommendation or documentation. Many interpreters left service with commendations, certificates, thank yous and pay confirmations. Those documents obviously were used by you. Are those still readily available—a certificate of thanks, for example—with many of the interpreters and their families still on the ground in Afghanistan?