Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate that very much.
I also want to give my thanks to the witnesses for their presence here, because as Ms. Neville indicated, I, too, have had a very real sense from conversations with women's organizations and those who receive support and funding from the federal government that there is a sense that if you speak too loudly to power you will be punished, that funding will be withheld or you will somehow suffer because of your perspectives and point of view.
I would most certainly hope that this is a situation we're cognizant of and want to change with regard to this country. The one thing about this country that I've always believed, and that I think most Canadians believe, is that there is fairness here and the ability to state opinions without any concern about retribution.
Again, thank you for being here. I hope other groups will be able to come to provide information.
What you're saying is quite, quite different from what we heard on Tuesday. In fact, this committee was admonished, it felt like, for pursuing a subject that some regarded as frivolous. It's very clear to me that this is anything but frivolous.
I'm also interested in the discussion around child soldiers, because this week we've heard some very, very disturbing information about children being transferred to the NDS in Afghanistan.
Canada of course has a duty to protect children from torture. We've signed international agreements to that effect. I think back to the horrific events that took place in Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast and involved the coercion of children. They were compelled to do some dreadful things. Canada's response was that they are children and we must provide the support, care, and therapies needed to make sure they're whole and can become contributing members of society.
That seems to have gone by the wayside. Here, we are talking about a situation involving Afghani children, and of course there is the situation involving Omar Khadr. He was a child, yet he has been treated and is being treated as an adult.
I'm wondering about the legal and political impact of changing “child soldier” to “children in armed conflict”. Can you provide some sense of what that means and how we need to be very aware of it with regard to what's going on in Afghanistan?