Mr. Speaker, I think one of the concerns of Canadians is the issue of ground casualties. A lot of the casualties, whether one was a development worker or a member of the military, have resulted from just driving down the road. This speaks to the fact that until we can get the road secure, the call for helicopters is important because they are the safer way to travel.
As Sarah clearly said, she was concerned that the regular people were disaffected by a government that does not seem to be helping them. This speaks to the fact that the Manley report around signature projects is wrong. We not only want to help the Afghan government gain the confidence of its own people, but we also want to help it deal with the obvious corruption.
When we were there, Sarah Cheyes clearly said that she wanted Canada to be tougher. She wants us to follow the development dollars and ensure they get where they belong in terms of helping with education, which is the immunization against corruption and against people not knowing.
As both Sally Armstrong and Adeena Niazi said to me at my town hall meeting, illiterate Afghan women feel they are blind because they cannot see what is going on.
We need more presence on the ground to ensure security for the development to take place and to work side by side with civil society. Out of that education and out of that security will come peace.