Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for such an intelligent question. We cannot be in Afghanistan to help the Afghani people rebuild their country without being prepared to take up arms to defend them in doing it.
I think anyone who listened to my colleague from St. Catharines heard him illustrate very clearly what is happening in Afghanistan. Our people who are there now and have been there for the last four years have faced tremendous danger with respect to not military fighting in the normal sense but the roadside bombs and suicide bombers. That also impacts the Afghani people. They are also affected by those things.
Therefore, without our military there to provide that assistance, the aid that is truly needed in Afghanistan will not happen. Quite frankly, this is a very principled position. It is neither a Liberal position nor a Conservative position. It is a Canadian position. It is one that we should all embrace. It is for the good of Canada, but it is also for the good of Afghanistan.