Mr. Chairman, clearly it's not just Quebeckers who perceive the situation this way. We've noted it across Canada and elsewhere in the world.
I tend to agree with Mr. Maloney when it comes to the media reporting on incidents in Afghanistan. All I'm saying is that there have been some major changes since 2001. A total of 4.8 million children, one third of them young girls, are back in school; 12,000 villages now have access to clean drinking water or to funding to secure clean water; 63,000 soldiers have been disarmed; 11,000 pieces of heavy equipment have been secured or put out of commission; 3.7 million refugees have returned to Afghanistan. Unfortunately, these developments are not reported on by the media.
In terms of governance, two elections have been held since 2001, including parliamentary elections in which 25 per cent of the representatives elected were women, the country has a new constitution, provincial councils, and so on.
If these developments could be relayed to Quebeckers and to Canadians through this committee, in my opinion, that would help us convince Canadians that this mission is important and although admittedly a difficult one, that considerable progress is being made.