A lot of work was done beforehand. Actually, I want to thank the members of Parliament who were involved with that, whether it was supporting the interpreters or the vulnerable populations, by forwarding that information to IRCC at that time.
I knew, when I was minister of national defence, that the Canadian Armed Forces had provided a list of people who actually worked for us. We provided that to the IRCC. Other NGOs, like the Bhullar foundation, were also providing information.
Everything worked off an approved list. Even through that chaos, we had to be very mindful that.... Imagine, with the tens of thousands of people who were there.... We all saw the images and know how heartbreaking it was, and it was heartbreaking for anybody who served there.
Through all that hardship, I want to also mention, just to the Canadian Armed Forces who were on the ground at that time.... They were accused of not helping as much. They saved so many people's lives. I got to meet some of the interpreters and their families who are here. It's because of that effort. They did it in extreme circumstances.
Sadly, I also want to say, let's not forget that 11 U.S. soldiers lost their lives at a location that we and the U.K. were manning. That was our location. We followed the intelligence very closely. We made the decision to stop at that time, but, sadly, U.S. personnel were killed at that time. We did that as safely as possible, but even after helping all those people, I know all of us feel a level of guilt, because people we worked with were left behind. I know those efforts did not stop. I know of people who—