Afghanistan committee  Honourable member, that is one area that's not just crucial for our future and frequently overlooked; it's also an area where an international partner would need credibility to assist and to be there. It's a very sensitive area. A lot of people look with suspicion at our country to be seen to have a democratic process and to engage directly with civil society, with human rights, and with the rule of law sector.

Afghanistan committee  Without any reservations, Canada has great capacity in this area. It has already done a great job in Kandahar with the national army and the national police. It's an important priority for us. I think if the people of the Canadian government and this Parliament accept in principle that the mission in Afghanistan is not finished and Canada would be willing to help Afghanistan in the future, then this would probably be the most important area to help in.

Afghanistan committee  I'm glad you don't agree with it and I expect you not to agree with it, because it is something we don't agree with. We think it's deeply relativistic culturally to say that. In a sense, people who say that are patronizing as well. There is no part of me, no cell in my body, that believes that we cannot have a country that's free, that we cannot have a country that's democratic, and that we should not live with dignity, in prosperity, and in peace, as most of the world does, and with the kind of society that you have achieved and that I enjoy today by being here.

Afghanistan committee  Absolutely.

Afghanistan committee  Yes.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you, sir. I can't answer that question without confessing that certainly we could have been in a much better environment today, five years after the first time we had parliamentary elections and a national process. Had we been in a better situation, where we would have had a more secure country, much stronger civil society institutions, we probably would have had a next parliament that would have been, without any reservations, a great improvement over the previous one.

Afghanistan committee  Yes.

Afghanistan committee  What's going on is that President Karzai realizes the reconciliation process is not something the government can do only on its own. There is a need for a consensus across the country from all groups to support that. That's why he organized the peace jirga and that's why he has now almost delegated this particular function to a non-government national body.

Afghanistan committee  From the international side we would like two things, essentially. One, we would be really pleased to have a consensus from the international side, a sort of certainty about how they see the reconciliation process. As I said earlier in my statement, there are some views--I don't necessarily subscribe to them, and they don't necessarily represent the majority view--that some of our friends in the international community see the reconciliation essentially as a way of getting out of Afghanistan, as an exit strategy.

Afghanistan committee  That's a very good question, honourable member. The ANP needs not just training but support in more comprehensive ways, for a number of reasons. One, unlike the Afghan National Army, which was an institution that was built from scratch nine years ago through the intervention of the United States....

Afghanistan committee  You see, honourable member, that's another area that's extremely important. I've been going around, since coming back after the summer, to speak to some of the private sector organizations in Canada. My focus in the past has mainly been on the mining industry, in which Canada has tremendous potential, or on some of the other investment opportunities.

Afghanistan committee  We had already learned a lot from last year's presidential election, which we took into account in the conduct of the elections in September. A democracy is inevitably going to be a process of trial and error. It has developed in progressive democracies of today including Canada.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you very much, sir, for the kind words, and also for this very important question. As I mentioned in my statement, Afghanistan will really need all it can get from our friends, security being the topmost important concern for the country for the time being above all the other concerns.

Afghanistan committee  In the final analysis, the turnout was 5.6 million, which was more than 50%. If you invalidate a million votes--and I know it's an enormous number of votes to be invalidated--it's about 20% of the total turnout. If you remember correctly, at the time people did believe that we would be really happy, given the kind of environment Afghanistan was in, given the fact that there were security risks, given the fact that a lot of people, including in Kabul--because there were security attacks in the week before--did not come out to vote.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you very much, honourable member. I don't think the Pakistani government will do it on its own. We have had nine years now to show that it will not happen without a systematic, principled, and strong position from the international community--from the United States in particular, but from NATO at the same time.