Mr. Speaker, I listened closely to my colleague, and I would like to ask her a question, the same question I asked the government last week and a minister this morning.
I do not think that the text of the motion is the same in both languages. I am sure my colleague will agree that in the French version, following all of the items listed after “attendu que”, or “whereas” in English, the motion gets to the important things: the conditions. This motion sets out conditions; it creates obligations.
In the French version, when referring to the panel's recommendations, it says “—que, en vertu de ce mandat,...soit approuvé par la Chambre à la condition expresse que—”. The English version says “that, consistent with this mandate,...is approved by this House expressly on the condition that—”. What follows is a list of conditions. But then, when the motion refers to other conditions for accountability and transparency, the conditional is used: “—que la contribution du Canada à la reconstruction et au développement de l’Afghanistan devrait être—”. The English version uses the verb “should”. The following paragraph begins “—que le Canada devrait adopter—”. In English, this is given as “—that Canada should assert—”.
Personally, I find this very worrying because it implies that we have to trust the government. I would therefore ask my colleague if we really have good reason to believe that if this motion is passed, the government, the armed forces and other bodies involved will make a sincere effort to respect the conditions and obligations as written, whether in the conditional tense or otherwise.