Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments from the hon. member, but it is not that simple. I was the CIDA critic and I realize it is not that simple to change a country like Afghanistan, which has almost as many people as Canada but in the space of maybe Manitoba, and make it as prosperous and have all the laws, rules, regulations and prosperity as a country likes ours.
Yes, he is right. There has to be a multifaceted approach. Law and order and its parliamentary system have to be dealt with. Unless people can see change happen in security and some sort of prosperity, they will go back to the system they had. That is the whole issue. If we are to stop the poor farmers and citizens from relying on the Taliban, we need to have alternatives in place for them. We have to show them another way. If not, it will go backward.
I appreciate his comments. It is not a simple matter. We need to have time lines in place as to how long we will be there. We have to hold CIDA and many other organizations' feet to the fire to get results. Sometimes we have no choice because of the tight-lipped government and the lack of transparency of what happens in Afghanistan. We have to rely on reports from NGOs to get news about what happens over there, and that is unfortunate.