Mr. Speaker, I have said many times that the government will spare neither money nor effort to ensure that the army has what the army deems necessary. The army and the deputy chief of the defence staff have informed me on several occasions that, yes indeed, they are well equipped.
The commander stated at the time that this was a relatively low risk area because the road had been cleared 24 hours earlier. Indeed, vehicles had passed safely on this road two hours before the explosion. Therefore the fact is the commanders deemed this to be a relatively low risk area. Sadly and tragically, it turned out not to be the case.