Ladies and gentlemen, we'll call to order the twelfth meeting of the Standing Committee on National Defence, dealing with the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan.
Through the wonders of technology we have two witnesses today. One is from Queen's University, Douglas Bland, chair of the Defence Management Studies Program, School of Policy Studies, who's here in person. We'll hear from him first, but I'd also like to introduce, from Calgary--can you hear us, sir?