Ladies and gentlemen, I call to order the 16th meeting of the Standing Committee of National Defence, dealing with our Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on May 16 dealing with the study of Afghanistan.
I just want to remind the committee that this motion included: That the Committee examine the various aspects of the mission of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, such as its duration, the state of the personnel and materiel, the relationship between the mission's combat operations and its efforts to help reconstruct the country, and the criteria for assessing its effectiveness, with a view to determining whether it is possible to complete the mission successfully while still meeting Canada's other international obligations.
Today, we'd like to welcome the Honourable Gordon O'Connor, the Minister of National Defence, along with Chief of the Defence Staff General Hillier and Deputy Minister Elcock.
As usual, Mr. Minister, we'll give you some time for opening comments. Then we start a 10-minute round, as has been laid out previously. I'll turn it over to you for the comments, and then we'll move on.
Mr. Minister, go ahead.