Mr. Chair, I had the privilege, with other members of the defence committee, of visiting Kandahar in January. Along with all of my other colleagues on the defence committee, I was incredibly and profoundly impressed with the men and women in the Canadian military.
In October, Canada sent Leopard tanks to Kandahar. I have here a photo from the Department of National Defence from the November 22 issue of The Maple Leaf. It shows Leopard tanks rolling off C-17 transports in Kandahar. I also have a document that was released to me under access to information by DND showing the contract for transport of Leopard tanks via Antonov 124 from Edmonton to Manas Airport just outside Bishkek in Kurdistan. I want to ask the minister why most of the flight was made by an Antonov and only the short end of the trip by a C-17.
Further, on October 4, Major General Daniel Benjamin was at our Standing Committee on National Defence and said that the Antonov cannot land in Kandahar. Is this also the minister's understanding? Will we continue to use Antonovs to do most of the transport of heavy equipment?