Good morning and thank you for inviting me today. I am grateful for the chance to provide an update on developments since my last appearance before this committee.
At that time, in June 2008, new policy priorities for our Canada's mission in Afghanistan had been established and programming refocused to increase our emphasis on diplomatic and development contributions. The first quarterly report to Parliament had just been tabled.
Over the last nine months departments and agencies, led by the cabinet committee on Afghanistan, have been focused on fulfilling the commitments made in the government motion of March 13 last year and the recommendations of the Independent Panel on Canada's Future Role in Afghanistan.
These actions have included a significant increase in our civilian deployment, including more senior people and more managers. When I last appeared before you in June, we had a total of 52 people in Afghanistan. We're now close to 100 and we'll grow beyond that in the coming months. Significantly, most of those people are in Kandahar and are working side by side with the Canadian Forces in Kandahar.
Since I last saw you, we've established benchmarks to better track progress. We've pushed out and increased authority delegated to our people in the field. As you know, we've deployed helicopters and UAVs. We've tabled two additional quarterly reports since I was last with you. And I think we've established a focused and connected whole of government effort that's increasingly seen as a Canadian innovation and success.
At the same time--and we've spoken frankly about this--the overall security situation in Afghanistan has remained dangerous and has deteriorated in the last quarter, despite international efforts and the efforts of the Afghan national security forces. Insurgent attacks are indiscriminate, killing both civilians and military personnel. Incidents in both Kandahar and Kabul, and indeed elsewhere in Afghanistan, illustrate how difficult the work of Canada and its partners is. But we continue to do our work, and that's one of the things I wanted to report to you today.
Despite the challenges, Canadians, military and civilian, continue to do what we have asked them to do. Just last week I was in Kandahar and Kabul with ministers Day and Cannon, and among other things, they met with the team that is planning the implementation of the Dahla Dam in southern Afghanistan. They met people who were working up at the dam, walked along the irrigation systems that lead from the dam down to Kandahar City, and even did an investigation of the tunnel that takes water through the mountains the last part of the way. And they met with local officials to talk about the dam and to talk about the important role that local officials, councils, and shuras would play in guaranteeing its success.
We met with civilian and military colleagues who are training the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police and correctional staff in Afghan prisons, and we met with colleagues in Kabul who are implementing our new governance support office, which is deploying experienced Canadians to a range of Afghan government departments to enable them to perform better and to build capacity.
And while we haven't hesitated to speak frankly about the challenges we face, particularly in terms of security, we also need to stay focused on what's going right. l'd like to quote three specific instances that the UN's special representative in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, listed in his March 19 statement to the Security Council. Here I'm quoting Mr. Eide.
First: “After all the changes that have taken place over the last six months, the Afghan government is today better and more competent than ever before. And the level of provincial governance is higher.”
Second: “The cooperation between key elements inside the government has improved. That applies most prominently to the security ministries and institutions.”
Third: “The improved internal cohesion we now see emerging could help us cover the fragmentation which has hampered coordination with the international community.”
So as Kai Eide pointed out, we have seen developments that represent potential success stories. Turning them into reality will, to a large extent, depend on the ability of the international community to respond quickly, but most importantly to the Afghan government, to continue to welcome and support these reforms.
I believe what has been achieved in the last year is something Canadians can be proud of. I think we're leading the way in terms of civilian-military partnership. This is increasingly something we get asked about in other capitals because we're deploying, as I say, more civilians to our PRT, our Provincial Reconstruction Team, than anyone else and we're deploying them in a very difficult part of the country.
We've resolved to make transparency and accountability the touchstones of delivering what was committed to by the government, and I think our quarterly reports represent that. We've developed new ways of communicating with Canadians in an effort to increase public awareness and understanding of how Canada is contributing to the international effort in Afghanistan. If I could cite two examples, over the last few weeks and in coming days, we've had people like General Denis Thompson, the previous commander of Task Force Kandahar; his deputy, Colonel Jamie Cade; and Elissa Golberg, who was the senior civilian in southern Afghanistan--the person we call the RoCK, the representative of Canada--meeting audiences in Canada and internationally to talk about what Canada's doing in southern Afghanistan.
Secondly, we've spent a lot of time moving from a period when we had numerous government websites on Afghanistan to a single government website that captures the entirety of the mission. Yesterday some of you may have seen Minister Cannon explaining that to Canadians and showing them, for example, the kinds of footage and reports we have, the podcasts on the various development projects we're undertaking, and a pretty unique map that allows people to click on particular areas and find out more about specific projects.
In closing, it is important to keep in mind that Canada is one of many countries and international organizations working to improve security, development and governance in Afghanistan. We share a common purpose with Afghans, our partners, and our allies: To protect international peace from the dangers that form in the violence of failed States.
International meetings over the next few weeks will allow us to work for greater coherence, sharpen our focus on key issues like ANSF capacity, and continue to transfer authority to Afghans.
Progress in Afghanistan will not come easily, and the country's transition to a more secure and stable society will take time. Nevertheless, our focus is on building Afghan capacity, ensuring that this process of transition is increasingly planned and led by Afghans. We are contributing to a better future for Afghans in a way that corresponds to Canadian values and to Canada's security.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.