I found out about that late. I think it was in July when I heard from different colleagues who we were working within the Canadian embassy that this was what the Government of Canada was doing. This is the time that I inquired from different contacts we were working with whether we would be eligible or not under this.
I understand that there was this evacuation going.... Again, I don't have the answer to what the definition is of “enduring relationship”. That was relayed so many times by two different ministers—that priority would be given to those who had an “enduring relationship with the Government of Canada”. I thought that we would be the best people under that category, because oftentimes we were representing the embassy more than the local staff and even, at times, more than the diplomats. For security reasons often they would not go out, so it was us who went to engage with different municipalities, with local courts and local offices within the Government of Afghanistan.
We are publicly known, so I thought that we would be the right people under this definition. Again, here it is 10 months, and I'm asking you people to be my voice. Let's get these people who really served the Canadian mission in Afghanistan and bring them to safety.