One thing we do is the estimates and the budget. The committee deals with those in most instances. The committee of the whole, which is happening tomorrow night in the House, is going to replace us in terms of looking at the estimates as a committee. We can look at the estimates and we can move motions to have the line items changed or reduced. So there's a process there whereby we have some oversight.
The budget is prepared by the government and brought forward. Within that will be the budget of the Department of National Defence. That all becomes part of the entire global budget.
As far as the committee is concerned, I agree with Mr. Dosanjh. We can study whatever we want, and right now we're doing Afghanistan. If we prepare a report with recommendations, that goes to the government and they have to respond within a certain period of time. But we're on our own and we can branch off in any direction we want. When it comes to the dollars and the oversight there, though, that's something the committee does have some control over, along with any subject that we want to deal with.
The authority that the committee has—and this is a debate that has gone on forever, and still will go on forever—in terms of what influence we have over the department or the functioning of the military is pretty much up to the government. We can make recommendations, and they need to respond, but how the government proceeds is actually up to the government.