Mr. Speaker, I listened intently to my colleague's comments. The parliamentary secretary laid out some interesting information that we have not heard here for a while. Although those objectives may be laudable, and we have full faith that the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces can do any task that they are put up to, including peacekeeping in Mali, we would prefer as the opposition and I think Canadians would prefer to see our troops deployed to fight terrorism in a coalition that is not under UN command.
The crux of the problem is that we have an organization that has proven itself many times over to be ineffective in long-term peace and stability in regions around the world. Bosnia is a case in point and Kosova is another where the UN failed and NATO succeeded.
We need to make sure that when we move our troops, it is in Canada's national interests, that it brings the peace and security that the government wants to see, that all Canadians want to see, but we do it with minimizing the risk to our troops. That is what I am asking for today.