Mr. Speaker, I found myself agreeing with much of what my colleague had to say.
He referenced the previous speaker and the fact that he felt that it was very much in Canada's strategic interest to be there. He went on to discuss some of the very real contributions that are being made, not the least of which is in keeping with the values and principles Canada is projecting in Afghanistan.
The previous speaker, of course, spoke of pathetic. What is pathetic are some of these pedantic, professorial, preaching or pseudo-intellectual remarks and then slinking out of the chamber, but I digress.
I want to come back to the hon. member's questions that he posed to the government, questions that we have heard and I believe we have answered throughout this debate and at various times in the chamber in question period.
With respect to public notification, NATO follows very closely the goings on in all NATO member countries. I have had numerous occasions to speak to Secretary General “Jaap” De Hoop Scheffer about the debate that has transpired here. Clearly, we want to wait until this motion has been dealt with by way of a vote. At that time Canada's intentions will be very public.
With respect to the end date of December 2011 versus July 2011, this is also in keeping with the issue of notification and allowing for the troop replacement that might be necessary in such an instance. That is the difference of the six months in the July versus December determination.
With respect to the 1,000 troops, that number was arrived at in keeping with the recommendations of the Manley report. The Manley panel consultations involved speaking with military and civilian experts to determine that in Kandahar province the equivalent of a manoeuvre battalion or battle group, which is roughly 700 to 1,000 troops, would be required to stabilize the military effort. In this instance we are seeing an additional 2,000 American marines coming to Kandahar province beginning this month.
Looking at the issues of equipment and troop contributions as to when that will take affect, the original commitment and the wording in the motion references February 2009. That would be the time in which we would have to achieve those levels of additional support in both equipment and troops.
Finally, with respect to compliance, we are talking about meeting these elements to achieve what we feel will be further security around this mission to provide for greater humanitarian aid work, greater reconstruction on the ground, and greater development. All of this being the total government approach that is being taken with respect to Afghanistan.