Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, and thank you for inviting me to join you today. I wanted to speak to you about what I see Canada as having accomplished in Afghanistan. I'd like to begin by reminding you that this is a country most Canadians couldn't have found on a map seven years ago, and now we c

Foreign Affairs committee  You're a great diplomat.

Foreign Affairs committee  Well, they're in it now. They're in it with their new task force. In any case, the point of village councils, for me, is that men and women are meeting together, and this is a first. And they are effective. But I think the point you're making comes back to the ministries. They

Foreign Affairs committee  In terms of governance, village councils have started, and CIDA has had a lot to do with these village councils.

Foreign Affairs committee  I want to add a comment to what you said about this massive portion of the population that's against our being there, and your comment about development and war going on in Afghanistan. I think it's valuable to remember there are 34 provinces in Afghanistan. Almost all of this i

Foreign Affairs committee  That's right. Does it take long to get there?

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. I wanted to respond to the two questions that madame asked. One was about the status of women today and if there had been any change, and the other one was about how to deal with the Koran and sharia law, etc. I'll deal with the religious issue first. I think it's v

Foreign Affairs committee  I can tell you that negotiations are going on. They're not official negotiations. Karzai is meeting with moderate Taliban. Even the UN are holding meetings with low-level Taliban. But this is a trickle of moderate, low-level Taliban who are basically saying, “Help us find a way o

Afghanistan committee  Thank you. Thank you for inviting me to speak to you tonight. I think we are among the last to speak and I'm pretty pleased about that. I don't usually like being last, but in the last few days, we have managed to see evidence, very clear evidence, that the Taliban have not mo

Afghanistan committee  Okay.

Afghanistan committee  I'll make one comment. IRCC has to get up to speed. They have to do the job they're supposed to do. In this country, those excuses are just not good enough. We are not getting vulnerable people out because our people are not doing their jobs.

Afghanistan committee  Is your question to me? I agree with what you said. This is our wheelhouse. Canada is terrific at this. We've shown it over and over again. Communities across this country and spiritual centres can do it. I can tell you, sir, that I have been trying to get Afghans out of Afgh

Afghanistan committee  Again, as Heather Barr said, that's who we are. We've said we are the community that can promote women into those positions so they can be part of the living country. There have to be ways. You know, sir, I wish I could say to you that this is what you need to do—this, this and

Afghanistan committee  Is the question addressed to Ms. Samar?

Afghanistan committee  I completely agree with the recommendations.