I know I have very little time, but as one of the members of the committee who spent some time in the conflict zones in both East Timor and Afghanistan, I am very interested in the discussion of a rapid deployment force. While it was some time ago, I was co-coordinator of a human rights observer mission in East Timor when we were calling for a UN force ready to intervene if the independence vote went as we thought it would. The force arrived much too late, 10,000 people died, and the infrastructure of the country was destroyed. Canadians made a large effort in rebuilding it.
Where do we stand with this rapid deployment force that Mr. Gwozdecky talked about? How large a force are we talking about, and what circumstances?