MGen Gregory Smith made a statement and, with MGen Robert Ritchie, answered questions.

At 4:02 p.m., the meeting was suspended.

At 4:31 p.m., the meeting resumed.

Christine Normandin gave notice of the following motion:

Given that the members of this committee learned at the end of June 2024 from an article in the Globe and Mail that the former Minister of National Defence, Harjit Sajjan, had allegedly ordered members of the Special Forces deployed by Canada in Afghanistan to carry out an evacuation operation in August 2021 involving 225 Afghans of the Sikh faith, thereby favouring the evacuation of individuals on the basis of their religious or ethnic affiliation, to the detriment of the evacuation of Canadians and allied Afghans,

That, within 15 days of the adoption of this motion, the committee invite the following persons to testify in order to answer the committee's questions:

1. the Minister of National Defence, Bill Blair, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, as well as government officials, for a minimum of two hours;
2. the former Minister of National Defence, Harjit Sajjan, for a minimum of two hours;
3. the Chief of the Defence Staff at the time of the events;
4. and any other witnesses the committee deems necessary; and

that the committee report its findings and recommendations to the House.

MGen Gregory Smith and MGen Ritchie answered questions.

At 4:47 p.m., the meeting was suspended.

At 4:47 p.m., the meeting resumed.

Yuliya Kovaliv made a statement and, with MGen Gregory Smith and MGen Robert Ritchie, answered questions.