Mr. Speaker, the question I have is for the Minister of State of Foreign Affairs for the Americas.
When Richard Colvin, who is a foreign service officer of great distinction, went to Kandahar in April of 2006, he said that he found the condition of Afghan detainees, and I quote from his affidavit, to be “serious, imminent and alarming”, as a result of which he wrote what he described as an “action memorandum” to his department, as well as to other departments.
I would like to ask the minister, given the fact it was an action memorandum, why did it take the government 18 months—