Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, welcome back to the committee.

Minister, what date exactly did the Canadian Armed Forces operation take place to escort Afghans to the airport in Kabul?

Hon. Harjit S. Sajjan:

What time are you referring to?

Mr. James Bezan:

The specific dates of the operation, when everything was all falling apart.

Hon. Harjit S. Sajjan:

On the actual evacuation when the Canadian Armed Forces were requested.... We had a request for assistance from Global Affairs on July 27. On July 30 we had approval to deploy to Afghanistan.

Mr. James Bezan:

When was the last day of operations in Afghanistan?

Hon. Harjit S. Sajjan:

Are you asking about the last day of operations for the evacuation, or the last day of operations?

Mr. James Bezan:

I'm asking about the evacuation.

Hon. Harjit S. Sajjan:

It was August 27.

Mr. James Bezan:

Okay.

Hon. Harjit S. Sajjan:

I would say that the last Canadian Armed Forces left at that time. I don't remember the exact date when the actual flight with the last people left, but the official date was the 27th.

Mr. James Bezan:

Okay.

You were quoted as saying in the Globe story you were talking about that you “provided direction to the Canadian Armed Forces, through the appropriate chain of command”. You've said that again in your testimony today.

Who at the Canadian Armed Forces did you give direction to?

Hon. Harjit S. Sajjan:

Are you talking about the Globe article or my statement?

Mr. James Bezan:

I'm talking about your statement.

Hon. Harjit S. Sajjan:

You're talking about my current statement.

Yes.