Mr. Speaker, the inquiry into the conduct of peacekeepers in Somalia is scheduled to start on May 24. We have just learned that one of the main witnesses in this case, Major Armstrong, who, we will recall, stated that incriminating evidence had been ordered destroyed, has just been sent on a three month tour of duty in the former Yugoslavia.
How can the Minister of National Defence explain that Major Armstrong was sent on a three month mission in the former Yugoslavia just five days before the beginning of the inquiry?