Mr. Speaker, I will begin by echoing the sentiments expressed by my colleague opposite for the loss of one of our brave women in the armed forces today. I also want to commend the member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore for his unequivocal and unrelenting support for this mission, which he has expressed on numerous occasions both inside and outside the House.
With respect to his question, we are seeing tangible progress and any changes in the mission will be calibrated on the ability in which the security allows for capacity building, allows for the extension of the development into areas which are currently not available to NGOs, to people from CIDA, to the effort that is there to provide direct assistance in tangible ways to the people of Afghanistan.
Will the mission change? This is very difficult to gauge as far as military involvement. The Minister of National Defence is well situated to talk about the successes that have been made. There is no immediate plan whatsoever to commit more troops, nor has there been any asked.
Will there be a change in command? Yes. This will happen as expected and as part of the rotation that will take place through the NATO commitment. As the mission moves from Operation Enduring Freedom to the ISAP mission there will be changes. Does that mean that Canada will play a different or continuing role? Certainly, but again it will be calibrated on our ability to secure certain regions within the country.
However, what is most important is that this democracy building, this effort to provide direct assistance in the area of development is brought about because of the security and the continued presence of our military, along with our international allies.
I again commend and congratulate the member opposite for his commitment to this mission tonight.