It is five minutes, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chair, through you, I would like to first thank the minister for being here.
From the outset, I would like to point out that Canada has invested a lot and that Canadian men and women who have participated in the mission have worked extremely hard. However, we have lost 140 people. Given how much this mission is costing the country, this is a disappointing performance record. You said that security is not stable. You said that there is growing instability because of the Afghan insurrection, because of a weakening of the economy and persistent problems related to governance. You said that there was nevertheless a tangible improvement in the daily lives of Afghans, but you went on to say that there is a constant threat of explosive devices, among other things, which is creating more and more innocent victims among Afghan civilians. You also said that there was a massive intimidation campaign underway and spoke of the fact that the efforts of the international community are being undermined. This situation is extremely disappointing and leads us to ask many questions.
Further, we have met with many people. One of the problems raised by members of NGOs who have been in Afghanistan for a while is that Afghans are not sure about the quality of the health they are receiving. They said that the roads that have been built are not solid and that bridges have crumbled. I am simply repeating what I heard. We were told that these situations should not happen.
You did not really address the consequences of the election. The least one could say is that it did not provide conclusive results for President Karzai. You also talked about the fight against drugs, but the poppy culture has not been eradicated. On top of all of that, there is the issue regarding the torture of detainees.
What measures does this government, and this cabinet, intend to take by 2011 to improve the situation?