Mr. Speaker, I want to point out at the outset that since no decision has been made, there is nothing to put in front of Parliament. If we have nothing to put in front of Parliament, there is nothing to debate. If there is nothing to put before Parliament and there is no debate, then no vote would follow from that. I encourage the hon. member to at least wait until the government, in the fullness of time, can make a decision, whether it is decided here or somewhere else.
I would also point out that the minister has travelled to Africa several times. He is a hands-on minister. He is checking out a variety of options and opportunities. He has travelled there with Madam Justice Arbour and retired Lieutenant-General Dallaire, two of Canada's foremost conflict resolution people. Of course, he takes their advice, along with a variety of other people's advice, in trying to assess what would be an appropriate role for Canada to take.
I would say to my hon. colleague that until the decision is made and the information is assembled, it is a little premature to talk about a parliamentary debate and vote.
Last weekend I had the great good fortune to be at the Halifax International Security Forum. Of course, there was a lot of discussion about a lot of issues. Members can imagine one of the issues that was first and foremost in many people's minds, but the one that is relevant to tonight's discussion was on Mosul or post-Mosul. I do not want to get ahead of ourselves. There is a long road to go before we are done with Mosul, but the question in the conversations was what will happen to the fighters who come out of Mosul. Not all of them will die or commit suicide or do something really crazy. They will kind of leak out. Some will go to Raqqa. Some might go to Syria. Some might well make some effort to destabilize Europe, but some will go into the Sinai to destabilize the Egyptian government. Some will go to Libya and from Libya, some will go into the Sahel region.
If we look at the potential conflict from a global level, we will realize that what we are doing in Mosul and the Middle East is as important as what we might be doing in African countries. It needs to be looked at, so to speak, as a web of conflict. In that respect, the Canadian military has an immense ability and very capable people who could contribute to conflict reduction, even in, as the hon. member suggests, areas that are inherently dangerous. However, at this point, I would respectfully suggest to the hon. member that his concern about transparency is entirely misplaced. No decision has been made, and until a decision is made, there is really nothing to debate or vote on.