I'll be sharing my time with Mr. Patry.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Excellency. It's good to see you, as usual, and I appreciate your being here this evening.
On the issue of reconstruction, the Manley commission reported that there needs to be an emphasis on immediate-impact reconstruction and better coordination of counter-insurgency to deal with that effort, but they didn't seem to acknowledge a need for political attention to the conflicts or the grievances that fuel that reconstruction.
Canada has Afghanistan as our number one donor partner. You mentioned the underfunding of allies generally to Afghanistan. Obviously there was certainly a concern among many of us in Canada in general about the issue of corruption, and we need to deal with that head-on. Why would we give money that seems to be unaccountable? There is the fact that up to 45% of the key ministries haven't spent it, according to 2006 statistics.
Could you please deal with that issue on reconstruction, and could you please elaborate on what you mean by approval in terms of Afghan channels?
As well, Mr. Chairman, could my colleague put his question on the table? Then they could be answered.