Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Canadian troops have been in theatre in Afghanistan for several years now. I have to say that the media have done great work. Some even went over there and reported on operations. However, I have been hearing for several months that we don't have enough information about Afghanistan. I hear it around this table and in Parliament, and also from ordinary people in the riding of Saint-Jean. I'm sure it's the same thing everywhere else.
I think the time has come to tell the public of what is going on in Afghanistan, and the people in the best position to do that are officials with the Department of National Defence, because you know exactly what is going on.
As a member of the Defence Committee, I've always been very much in favour of the idea of our Committee being better informed about what exactly is taking place in the different theatres of operation.
It has always been a little frustrating for me to realize that at certain times, the Department could be hiding information. In the case of Afghanistan, the problem is not that it is hiding information, but simply that there isn't any. The Committee has every right to ask to know what is going on on a weekly basis or, as I suggested to my colleagues, every two weeks.
What we need is for the Department to send us someone who is perfectly up-to-date on the operations being carried out in Afghanistan who can answer our questions on a variety of topics, including equipment, the fate of prisoners, how medical care is being provided, what happens when a soldier is wounded, as well as the legal aspect of this. Having visited a number of theatres, I know that there are now a lot of lawyers from the Judge Advocate General's office on site to deal with legal issues related to international law.
So, there are a lot of different areas where we really don't know much. I think the time has come for the Committee to get a much more accurate picture of what's going on in theatre.
I really have just repeated the comments that have been made in the last few months by a number of Committee members, on both sides of the table.
I hope my colleagues will see fit to support the motion we currently have before us.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.