Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
In the sense that the information is pretty familiar to us, yes, there is a lot of the same information we're seeing in the Manley report that we heard during testimony during our Afghanistan study. What is different are the conclusions they drew and their set of recommendations. I'd like to hear the panellists and ask them some questions, because we haven't had the opportunity to speak to them and determine how they drew their conclusions.
As Mr. Hawn mentioned, Canadians in general have not heard the witnesses, so we have an advantage over everyday Canadians by hearing firsthand what's happening on the ground in Afghanistan. I don't know if there's a reason why the opposition doesn't want the Canadian public to hear firsthand in the same way we did.
Insofar as the work plan being interrupted, the work plan has been abrogated by the opposition. Every time something topical comes up, or they just have a whim, we have bent. So now there is an issue of importance to all Canadians, not just this committee. I know we're outnumbered, but I think this is a worthwhile detour, and we can certainly get back to our qualify-of-life study as soon as possible and even put in extra time for the quality-of-life study, to catch up if necessary.