Minister, thank you for being here today. I want to also convey my deepest appreciation to the colleagues beside you: Robert Desjardins, Peter Boehm, and of course Helen Harris, with whom I've worked over a number of years.
Minister, you will no doubt know that the distance between Beirut and Damascus is a mere 50 kilometres. A number of Canadians could have chosen that route. In fact, I'm looking at the Reuters factbox from July 20, 2006, and it suggests to me that a number of other nations had their evacuation plans in place long before Canada and were already putting those evacuation plans into effect.
My specific concern is with the first statement that you made in writing here. You said, “The safety and security of Canadians is of utmost concern to the Government. Put simply, there is no higher priority” or obligation of a nation.
If that were the case, Minister, where were you for the first four days of this crisis? Why did you simply show up for work on the Sunday, when this crisis began on Thursday? Why were you not talking to your embassy in Beirut, which could not possibly take those calls that you had suggested here on the Sunday and the Saturday--messages to Canadians--when in fact that embassy was closed? And why were you not telling loved ones and Canadians how to contact, rather than relying on a website to convey that message?
Minister, it seems to me that your party, and you in particular, perhaps as a result of directions by your Prime Minister, were so severely bogged down in micromanagement that you couldn't make a decision other than to take sides in this particular tragic issue. It's unfortunate today that you have offered condolences; it's taken this committee to do this.
Minister, in a simple question that I think you could have understood, given the tragedies that existed last year, where were you? Why were you missing in action?