Foreign Affairs committee  Just briefly, my colleague from the faculty of law, Amir Attaran, professor, has been on that hot pursuit for the last six months. He's battling with CIDA bureaucrats to access the documents. So that's the situation that I know, and I hear urban rumours on the other side of the river that they are problematic cases.

Foreign Affairs committee  I think there's still a lot of investigating to do. I repeat that I'm not happy with the fact that those retaining this information are keeping it. If we had it, we could make a more nuanced judgment. There are, however, some macroindicators. It's not just because some schools are built that you can make a final judgment.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, I have visited. I went to Kabul, because when you end up in Kandahar, you are locked in the Canadian bunker.

Foreign Affairs committee  As a Quebecker, I am offended when the media and other sources imply that we are genetically programmed to oppose the military participation of Quebec. Some people have even said that we lack courage. I am offended by this and by the fact that people think that Quebeckers are a little dim and misinformed, or that they don't know what is going on.

Foreign Affairs committee  It's a report by two independent researchers, Omar Zakhilwal and Jane Murphy Thomas. It's part of the North-South Institute study on humanitarian and development programs in the context of wars and conflicts. It's still a draft. I believe there are many critical reports inside CIDA at this point.

Foreign Affairs committee  It's public. It's on the web.

Foreign Affairs committee  Sure.

Foreign Affairs committee  As I said in my presentation, there's a lot of obscurity about what's going on there, partially because the government has decided to keep the information outside of public scrutiny. But there are certain reports coming in, including the one I have about some of the recent experiences over the last six months of the PRTs and the national solidarity program: lack of genuine community participation; no real participation by women; village committees are held by the same powerful, influential, and relatively well-off persons who are in charge of these villages; continue with the status quo; monitoring and evaluation are non-existent; a negative impact on social capital; exacerbate strife and disunity—It goes on and on.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I prepared a few remarks. Because you have read up on the issue and have heard from many witnesses, you know that few people are optimistic about the current situation in Afghanistan, with the exception of the Minister of International Cooperation and the Chief of Defence Staff.