Thank you Mr. Chair, and thank you all for being here.
I would have liked to ask my question to the minister, but clearly I didn't have the opportunity to do so.
The minister talked quite eloquently, and I think we all agree that we can't send people into harm's way without proper protection. If we look at the appropriations, there are certainly reallocations of dollars to support the personnel. There are wage increases.
I have a concern. It's a very real concern and it is a present-day issue as it relates to the Afghan mission and as it relates to the protection of the personnel on the ground there. If we are suppressing warnings about torture by Afghan authorities, does that place those men and women in the field in greater harm's way? Does it turn the Afghanistan people against them? Does it make the Afghanistan people more vulnerable to recruitment by the Taliban and al Qaeda?
We all value the military. We endorse their efforts. We believe they should have every protection required for them, but my own view is that not addressing the issue of the Afghan detainees in a forthright and open manner is insidious and it potentially puts them in greater harm's way.