Can I put on record a little bit about the Somalia affair? It was in 1993, a military scandal. It peaked with the beating to death of a Somali teenager at the hands of two Canadian soldiers participating in humanitarian efforts in Somalia. The act was documented by photos and brought to light internal problems within the Canadian Airborne Regiment. Military leaders were sharply rebuked after a CBC reporter received altered documents, leading to allegations of a cover-up. Eventually a public inquiry was called. Despite being controversial, it was cut short by the government. The Somalia inquiry cited problems with the leadership of the Canadian Armed Forces. It led to the disbanding of our elite Canadian Airborne Regiment, greatly damaging the morale of the Canadian Forces, marring the domestic and international reputation of Canadian soldiers, and leading to the immediate reduction of Canadian military spending by nearly 25%.
The concluding observations of the inquiry “Dishonoured legacy: the lessons of the Somalia Affair” were that, “If mefloquine did in fact cause or contribute to some of the misbehaviour that is the subject of this Inquiry, CF personnel who were influenced by the drug might be partly or totally excused for their behaviour.” In other words, they were never given the opportunity to do the proper study of the impact of this drug mefloquine.
In other words, a conclusion has already been made on this without doing the proper study. If you go to the Canadian War Museum, yes, there were issues within the regiment, but it blames the Canadian Airborne Regiment being racist for this happening. We have people here who have been smeared because they did not have the opportunity to do what needed to be done, however long ago.
Given what we know, I want to know whether, in your opinion, it is possible that Clayton Matchee was experiencing a neuropsychic event that led to the death of Shidane Arone.