Absolutely, and thank you, Mr. Chair, for allowing me to ask questions here today.
I would like to welcome Mr. Beauregard as well as the other witnesses.
I want to tell you why it is I have appeared today.
I want to take a moment to thank my colleagues for actually allowing me to be here. I'm not a regular member of this committee, but I am a mother of five children. I'm a victims' and women's advocate.
I have been a police officer now for 18 and a half years. I'm on a leave of absence to be a member of Parliament in the House of Commons.
I've spent much of my career trying to fight here in Canada exactly what we're talking about in Afghanistan. I also want you to know--I spent four and a half years as a detective with the child abuse unit--that we have atrocities here in Canada that we need to deal with as well. But it is absolutely imperative that we continue our work with you, and I commend you for what you've been doing in Afghanistan.
I also had a partner by the name of Ray Arnal, with the Winnipeg Police Service, whose son was the very first soldier in Winnipeg brought home from Afghanistan in a coffin. So I pay tribute to him today.
Having said all that, I am very concerned. I'd like to know, following up on what Monsieur Bachand said, how many women were on the panel. When you submit your information, can you submit how many of those 15 people you were speaking of are women? You said “mostly”, but I would like to know exactly.