Mr. Speaker, this is the first time I have heard the new member intervene. I did not expect such an intervention, as his reputation preceded him. I must say I appreciated it, as I appreciate his attention.
There are many members in attendance and I am pleased. I would like to add that the sort of debate we are having this evening is uncommon. However, at the most recent debate, we agreed that the soldiers would remain there until 2007.
Could this same spirit not be recreated on the Standing Committee on National Defence, expanded perhaps with foreign affairs, in order to grasp the whole situation and ensure the public's questions, the ones they ask us, may be satisfactorily answered? That might create another frame of mind than the one created by this motion. In general terms, it makes the opposition members feel they have to provide a blank cheque, with the knife to their throat. That should not be how a vote is run. A vote is not a formality, it is a commitment.