Mr. Speaker, I have actually put myself through that thought process because I am a mother of three sons who are of an age that they could be part of the Canadian Forces. Two of my sons are police officers in Canada, so I know something about having sons who face danger in their lives every day.
I am not prepared to support this new mission in Afghanistan because we do not have answers to the questions. We know that the Americans have been fighting a counter-insurgency role for four years in Kandahar province and that the situation has only become worse.
Every independent analyst and in fact even the minister and the Department of Foreign Affairs have told us that it is far more dangerous now in Kandahar province than it has ever been. This is after the strongest military in the world has been fighting a counter-insurgency role there for four years.
In my view this is not the right mission. There are things we can do and have done in Afghanistan that have improved the lives of Afghan citizens and Afghan women. We commit as New Democrats to continue that kind of development diplomacy.