Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, gentlemen, for appearing today.
I'd like to direct a brief question to General Watkin before I turn to the minister, who is supposed to be in charge and who, I'm sorry to say, I think has lost the confidence of a great many Canadians, including a good many military in this country today.
General Watkin, you're an acknowledged expert in the law of armed conflict discipline in human rights. You're well aware of Canada's flawed agreements respecting the transfer of detainees, and I know you've written about this subject extensively in the past.
These agreements have created substantial grounds for fearing that our troops are being placed in an untenable legal and moral position that they deserve to be protected from and also that is causing a great deal of damage to Canada's reputation internationally.
I have two brief questions. Does the government not, in your view, have an obligation to protect our armed forces personnel from being placed in this untenable position? And secondly, what specific measures would you prescribe for bringing Canada into compliance with our obligations--obligations under both the Convention against Torture and the Geneva Convention.