Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, General Henault, for being present. It's an honour to have a Canadian in your position, bringing the experience and knowledge of Canada to that position.
It's a matter of great pride to see what our Canadian fighting women and men have done in Afghanistan. I've been a supporter of the mission from the beginning, when as a cabinet minister I accompanied you in Halifax to launch the naval operations on that deployment, as well as our commitment to Afghanistan. And I supported the extension in Kandahar.
I understand that we're going to be there a long time. I understand that as part of NATO we de-stabilized a country, one that wasn't very stable, but if we leave now it would be a disaster. I understand that NATO has a commitment to Afghanistan and we Canadians have a commitment to NATO. But there's a limit to what you can ask of our fighting men and women, and I think to be in a high-risk combat area for one rotation each is enough. It is the responsibility of the Government of Canada to advise a person in your position as to when we need the replacement, in due course, so that this can be done. I understand that we'll have to keep a commitment in Afghanistan--I'd be supportive of that, a military commitment in some form--but I hope we wouldn't always be in the highest-risk area.
I'll leave the politics aside, because I know that's not your role, but I want to bring you back to something that was touched on by Brigadier General Howard and that you also commented on. It is the question of building the capacity of the people of Afghanistan to run their own affairs. I understand that will take time, and I'm pleased to see the advances that we're making on the military side in Afghanistan and that the European Union is going to be moving on the policing side. I hope that centres like the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre are invited to play a role.
What kind of a situation do we face in Afghanistan, a country that, as you said, was an ungoverned space? It goes from quasi-modern governments in cities to tribal spaces and tribal governments. What kind of command-and-control structure do we have for that burgeoning military and burgeoning police force so that it is democratically operated?