I would add that there exists a certain relationship between the minister, the spokespeople and the Standing Committee on National Defence. The Constitution of Canada enables the minister or the Cabinet to decide to go to war or deploy forces. The relationship between the department and the Standing Committee on National Defence is always a little more difficult. The committee is independent, but we cannot have the minister appear every week to question him. However, he is before us every day in the House of Commons, where we can question him, which is rather interesting.
I have always been an ardent supporter of better control by the Standing Committee on National Defence. I say better control because we are members elected by the people, and it is important that there be a close relationship between the department and us. The Department of National Defence is often accused of lacking transparency. Our goal is that as many things as possible be public. In this respect, we are very happy to have convinced the minister, when he appeared before us, that there be briefings on the Afghanistan operations every two weeks. This is a victory of the committee, one of the first ones I've seen, I must admit.
Otherwise, we work independently, and the minister makes decisions independently. I believe that the closer the relationship between the department and the Standing Committee on National Defence, the better it will be for the taxpayers, who have the right to know what's going on, how their money is being spent, because they're the ones who pay. The committee's contribution is important in this respect.