Yes, I have seen the testimony. I read it in detail, and Mr. Staples and I were engaged in a public debate two Fridays ago at Queen's University's homecoming. The debate was attended by 300 or 350 people: students; older folks; grey-haired men in suits. We talked for two hours with an adjudicator. Mr. Staples used some of his information from the June 8 presentation. At the end of the debate, the principal of Queen's University took a hand vote, and I'm proud to say that it was 75% for the resolution that Canada ought to stay in Afghanistan, and Mr. Staples lost.
Where he is weak is that he puts out a lot of evidence that is easy to refute and hard to support. And he quotes the British captain as an authority. He quotes the Senlis, the United Kingdom's approach on narcotics. He talks about the study, the policy alternatives put out. He also says, strangely enough--and this is in reference to that June 8 presentation--that Canada should be doing more in the world, more peacekeeping and more UN missions, and so on, and that we should reduce the defence budget.
I'm not sure how that works.
I was pleased to see that my friend John McCallum, who, as you all know, is an academic, and the defence minister and president of a bank, was at that meeting of your committee and explained to Mr. Staples that his facts were wrong.