Colleagues, perhaps I could have your attention. I would like to welcome you to the ninth meeting of the Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan.
In keeping with our mandate to have good communication with the Canadian public, of course, this meeting, like all of our other meetings, is televised.
This evening we have the great honour of having General Hillier in front of us as the Chief of the Defence Staff.
For our viewing audience, General Hillier has been the Chief of the Defence Staff over the past three and a half years and he'll be retiring at the beginning of July, after 35 years of service.
General, it's a great honour to have you here with us tonight. I would ask that you start with an opening statement.
Then we'll proceed with two rounds of questioning, colleagues--a seven-minute round followed by a five-minute round.
With that, General, I turn the microphone over to you.