Thank you, Chair.
Monsieur Lagassé, there seems to be a bit of a disagreement here, with one suggestion that we be more proactive in terms of offering that advice or that we wait until government devises policy and then offer criticism. I think I like the idea of our having a bit more of a proactive approach, particularly when it comes to something like peacekeeping or peace operations, which is a bit more of a nation-defining activity than some of the other aspects of defence.
Colonel Drapeau, I was interested in your comments, and perhaps you'd elaborate on them a little bit. I can't consider myself any expert in counter-insurgency, but I do know from history that these types of operations demand an enormous number of personnel and have very limited success. Those who have studied counter-insurgency wars over the years give it a very low success rate. Is that the kind of operation that Canada can effectively engage in?
My own understanding is that we'd really only be bit players in somebody else's operation. Is that the kind of thing that Canada should devote major resources to--and I don't mean specialize in--or can we go in another direction in being combat-ready? And I agree, for the defence of Canada, we have to have a combat-ready force, but if we're going to specialize in terms of other aspects of our capability, would you look to counter-insurgency or would you look somewhere else?