Good afternoon and welcome to the 19th meeting of the Standing Committee on National Defence.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), we will resume our study of the role of Canadian soldiers in international peace operations after 2011.
Before starting with our witnesses, I have a motion in front of me and I want the members to vote on it. It's a simple one:
That the Standing Committee on National Defence be authorized to purchase up to $100 in gifts to be presented to hosts during its trip to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and Iqaluit, Nunavut, from June 6 to 9, 2010.
Do we have agreement on that?
(Motion agreed to)
Now we'll go to our witnesses.
We have with us, from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade,
Ms. Elissa Golberg, Director General, Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force Secretariat and Former Representative of Canada in Kandahar.
We also have two witnesses with us from New York.
The committee is also pleased to welcome John McNee, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations. Welcome, sir.
Also, by video conference we have
Colonel Simonds, Military Advisor, Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations.
We will start with Madame Golberg.
After you, we will have John McNee, who will do his presentation. You have between five and seven minutes. It's the same for Mr. McNee.
The floor is yours.