Madam Chairman, I would now like to ask a question concerning parliament's participation in the decision making.
During my visit to the U.S. Central Command in Tampa Bay, I was surprised to take part in classified briefings on the main forces present in Afghanistan. Quite frankly, we were told the number of members of the Canadian special forces, where they were and where they were going to be in the next few days.
I would like the minister to explain his approach to me. I think that the department is supposed to have security clearances. I would like him to tell me from what level to what level and why there is no liaison committee to provide MPs with more information on what the army is doing. When it comes down to it, what we would like to have is a kind of liaison committee between DND and parliament. I would like the minister to explain to me the security levels in his department, and whether there is not some possibility of a little more flexibility.
Let DND be like the Americans and show some trust to parliamentarians, briefing them with classified information. We are responsible people, and not going to leak it onto page one of the newspapers. We are going to follow the briefings, and that will give us a very good idea of how to react to a crisis like the one in Afghanistan.