Mr. Speaker, today, February 13, I am tabling a petition in French that was signed by many of my constituents in Châteauguay—Saint-Constant.
The petition includes 783 signatures and calls on the House of Commons and the government to make a clear commitment to withdraw the troops from the combat zones of Afghanistan in February 2009. The petitioners are also calling for the mission to be rebalanced by decreasing the military component and focusing on humanitarian support.
Several hundreds of people have clearly expressed to me, verbally and in writing, their disagreement with the current direction of the mission.