Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Minister, gentlemen.
I will first of all say that I want to acknowledge the tremendous work that our soldiers do on the ground. Having been there in May 2006, I can say, quite frankly, that I'm very proud of the work they do, and I think all Canadians are proud of the work that our soldiers and reconstruction team are doing.
I just want to say, Minister, that after the Somalia situation in 1993, written reports were the order of the day, so if it's been discontinued, I'm really surprised to hear that.
I want to ask, Minister, a question through you, Mr. Chairman, and that is about capacity building. It's extremely important. The work that our soldiers are doing on the ground is very significant, but without capacity building we will not leave Afghanistan a better place.
I'm quoting from your own minister, and this is the minister for the House, Mr. Van Loan who said:
Part of our program there is to help build the strength and capacity of that government, including the question of human rights.
Now I'm sure, Minister, you're aware of the attack on the Afghan Tolo TV station ordered by the Attorney General, Mr. Sabit, on April 17. I'd point out too that he is a Canadian resident. When this issue was brought up both by the media and the opposition, there was basically no response. In fact, the Prime Minister responded on April 19 that he hadn't really heard about it, and nothing was followed up.
If we truly believe in capacity building, whether in this incident or in others, why is it that you and your colleagues are not being more transparent, more accountable, and more open with regard to these issues? And certainly following on my colleague's comments in the Globe and Mail, if there is nothing to hide, then why is it that we hear this doublespeak and double-talk with regard to a report that apparently--as noted in the 2006 report on Afghanistan that was mentioned by Mr. Dosanjh--has no national security issues involved and no issues with regard to personal privacy concerns?
When we see these incidents we'd like you to be upfront and open, and then I think Canadians will have more support for the kinds of operations we are doing, I think pretty effectively, on the ground.