Thank you, Mr. Wilfert.
I think to pick up your last point on whether or not we have much say or any say in these operations, first of all, in terms of the policy and the doctrine of UN peacekeeping, Canada has long played a very big role in shaping the fundamental doctrine, and we lead on that today. That is not in the public view, but I think it is an important contribution.
Secondly, in terms of the decision-making process, of course Canada is now a candidate for election to the UN Security Council for the period 2011-12. If we are successful, as I think we should be, then we will participate in the decision-making, including the setting of the mandate for any new peacekeeping operations and changes to the mandates of existing ones.
On the two other points, the administrative weaknesses and the lack of political will, I guess I would say two things. The UN is working in an increasingly volatile and difficult international environment. I alluded to the fact that traditional peacekeeping in which Canada participated for very many years was often more of a static thing, as, for example, in the Golan Heights today, or in Cyprus today, whereas the UN's ambitions--largely the ambitions of the Security Council--to try to find solutions to countries torn apart by internal conflicts, for instance, have meant that UN peacekeepers are faced with more complex challenges. The UN system is trying to cope with those, but we would not pretend that administratively it's perfect yet. It is by no means, but we're working hard, as Canada and the mission down here, to try to make it better.
As for political will, that's an extremely good question. Of course, in the Security Council it's critical to have both full political support from the countries that contribute the troops and the host country's agreement to a mission. The degree to which those conditions are there is not always 100%--and eastern Congo is a case in point--but I think the response should be a pretty hard-headed look at the circumstances and an effort to make things work better.