Mr. Speaker, on November 19, I raised the detainee issue in the House and was informed that there was no basis for my question. I was also informed that the government's policy had not changed and that there was no issue with regard to abuse. The government claimed that if this were an issue, it would immediately stop any transfers.
We know that as of November 5, 2007, there was a change. We were misled by members of the government, including the Minister of National Defence and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Many times in November it was said that if there were any abuses, the House would be informed. Clearly, it was not. Our party repeatedly asked about the transfers. Why? We are in Afghanistan to support the rule of law and to hopefully bring a sense of democracy and human rights to that country.
What is the government's response now to the issue of transfers? We have seen it flip-flop. It says that this is a national security issue and an issue with regard to operational matters. The Americans announce the capture of Taliban prisoners, as do others. It cannot be a security issue for us and not for them.
We believe the transfer issue is at the fundamental core of the failure of the government to show transparency and accountability when it comes to the Afghan issue. Canadians want to know precisely what is going on over there, yet the government continues hiding behind all sorts of issues.
The Prime Minister's director of communications first blamed the military on the change of policy. Then she had to do a back flip the next day and say that the government had been informed. There is nothing the Prime Minister's Office would not be aware of, particularly something like this.
The government is attacking us by questioning our patriotism. No one in the House is more patriotic when it comes to supporting our military. Having been in Afghanistan in April 2006, I can tell the House that our troops are doing a phenomenal job over there. When parliamentarians raise issues for Canadians, we expect the government to be upfront and honest, but that has not taken place.
We were told that these allegations of torture were not credible. Yet as of November 5, 2007, the transfers stopped. They stopped because the military was concerned about the abuses it had seen.
The independent panel on Canada's future role in Afghanistan has indicated there is no transparency and accountability with the government. That side of the House does not seem to want to come forward about this.
Canadians want to be informed about decisions. They want to now what is going on over there. We have a right as parliamentarians to know these things. If we have concerns about certain issues, then we need to express those concerns to the Karzai government. It needs to be clear on our concerns. If there are allegations, we want those allegations investigated. We want to ensure the facts are on the table. Unfortunately, this has not always been the case.
An interim report on Afghanistan was provided by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs. We only reported on the comments of witnesses. Unfortunately, the government put forth a minority report with no recommendations at the time. We wanted to put forth what we heard. The government has said that it can not do that, yet it talks about transparency and accountability.
I put that to the government. I await the answer from the parliamentary secretary.