Afghanistan committee  Yes. At that time and at other times in theatre, I have been very satisfied with the degree of cooperation of DFAIT, DND, CIDA, the Correctional Services, and the RCMP. We really do have a whole-of-government team operating in theatre. We're doing things we have never done in the past.

Afghanistan committee  It's something that touches me. It offends me, because as I said in my statement, had I been conscious at any stage in my assignment of the abuse of Canadian detainees, I would have reported that to headquarters and would not have rested until something had been done.

Afghanistan committee  It's an accurate statement that Richard expressed concerns about the overall treatment of detainees in the Afghan system during the period 2006-07, yes. I think you're quite right, we all had concerns about risk. We had put measures in place to mitigate that risk and we didn't realize that those measures were not working the way they were intended.

Afghanistan committee  May I ask you to repeat the date?

Afghanistan committee  Yes, I understand. If I remember well--and I think I do--this alluded to something that happened before April 2007. It is someone who was transferred to the Sarposa jail and who made allegations about abuse that may have happened at the NDS. These allegations are related to the period preceding April 2007.

Afghanistan committee  That is the only time he was stationed in Kandahar.

Afghanistan committee  He came down from Kabul on visits, for example, accompanying ministers or MPs who were touring.

Afghanistan committee  Yes. I both preceded and followed Mr. Colvin in Kandahar.

Afghanistan committee  We didn't overlap on that occasion. What I received at the PRT was a written briefing note.

Afghanistan committee  No, there was nothing to that effect in the note.

Afghanistan committee  I won't presume to speak for Richard or on his motivations. What I will say is that in April 2007 there were some very vigorous exchanges between the embassy in Kabul and headquarters in which he put forward strong and I believe entirely legitimate views. But the key thing here is timing.

Afghanistan committee  They weren't actually allegations at that stage. It was in the period following the appearance of the allegations in The Globe and Mail. And there was a very serious debate as to what Canada should be doing and what options could be followed up to achieve the greatest effect. At that point Richard felt that more could be done than was initially proposed.

Afghanistan committee  At the end of the day, I believe most of them were incorporated into the structure of the 2007 agreement. In particular, he felt very strongly that we needed hands-on Canadian monitoring, and that is something we negotiated and we now have.

Afghanistan committee  No. And I should clarify my role in 2005. At the time I was but a lowly deputy director at headquarters, and my engagement extended only through April or May of 2005, at which point I moved to another assignment, so I did not see the end of that process.

Afghanistan committee  I really can't speculate on what a minister would have known. All I can talk about is what I actually experienced, which was the discussion in the room about what the options were and what the pluses and minuses would be of different approaches. I was out of that situation before it rose to political levels.