Mr. Chair, I'd like to thank all three witnesses for being with us. Thank you for your expertise and your service.
I would like to focus on the qualitative human element of peace operations, because I believe that peace operations are the people's business. I'd like to focus my questions on Ms. McAskie. I have seven minutes. Seven minutes doesn't begin to do justice to your expertise and insights, but I will try to unpack some of the themes.
I appreciate your comments that this subject matter extends far beyond the purview of defence and that it's important that within the parameters of this study, the defence community consider itself not just as a link in the chain but a part of a larger integrated whole.
I'd like to begin with the notion of complexity. We raised it at the last committee meeting, and you made reference to it. This subject matter is complex. In fact, you were the first Canadian to have led, as an SRSG, one of the UN's “complex missions”. It was explicitly termed a complex mission.
In a brief thumbnail sketch, could you tell the Canadian public what that means? What is a complex mission? What are its components?