Mr. Speaker, I have been a member of this House for 12 years. When I take part in such a debate, I see myself in 10 or 12 years, when I will no longer be a member in this Parliament, and people will be asking me whether I voted in favour of extending the deployment or against it. I want to be able to answer them yes or no, based on sufficient and satisfactory information.
A while ago, the member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore gave his support and asked questions later. Unlike him, before saying I am ready to ask for an extension of the mission, I want to be certain of having got all the information.
That is why I would like to ask the minister whether, in fact, the right procedure to follow would not have been to agree to the recommendation of the Standing Committee on National Defence and conduct an in-depth study of the question. We have the time to do so. For the minister, for the government, what is the big rush today? This urgency has led us to a debate when we do not have all the necessary information. We are being asked to get caught up in the spiral and then, in five or ten years, we will have to deal with the decisions we made.
I do not have anything against supporting it. I intervened in the take-note debate on April 10, 2006. Today I am asking the minister why the government has refused to follow the procedure envisioned? There would still be time to get adequate information and then vote. It is in this regard that the government is irresponsible. Can the minister admit that he should change his position and take the time for adequate consultation—