Thank you, Mr. Chair.
In your report, you make no mention of an end date, a date by which Canada should withdraw from Afghanistan. By so doing, you are, in a way, flying in the face of the majority of Canadians who have said that they want Canada to withdraw its troops.
So not only have you not stuck to 2009, you have not really indicated the date by which Canada would leave the country. But we are part of this coalition with a number of other countries—38 countries, if memory serves—and we do not understand why Canada must maintain its presence in the most dangerous part of the region, when there are other countries, in our view, who could also do their part. Canada could then become involved in other aspects of the mission with which we are more familiar, such as aid.
Other countries have set an end date. The Netherlands, for example, has recently stated that it wants to leave Oruzgan on July 30, 2010. So why could Canada not do the same thing? Why does this responsibility of being in a war zone fall to us entirely? Does it mean that Canadians should look forward to being in Afghanistan indefinitely?