Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
This is the first time that I sit on the Standing Committee on National Defence, and it is also the first time that I have the opportunity to participate in a meeting with a general. I take this opportunity to thank him for ensuring our security. On November 10, I also thanked a citizen from Saint-Michel-de-Bellechasse who had earned the Canadian Peacekeeping Medal for his two rounds in Cyprus during the mission that lasted 29 years. It was a moving ceremony.
I was with you when 71 soldiers from Quebec left for Afghanistan, but a large deployment of 2,500 soldiers from the Valcartier Base will soon take place. I would like you to tell me about the next phases of the deployment. With regard to how the mission is evolving, have things changed and have you learned any lessons from the soldiers who are there now?
In the presentation you gave us on the relations with the Afghan people, you mentioned that interventions had been made in villages and communities. I would like you to tell us about the atmosphere of our relations with the Afghans in the region where you are. It may be difficult to express this in numbers, but we can surely have a qualitative estimation.