Posts Tagged ‘Afghanistan’
Harper confirms Afghan combat mission to end in 2011
Stephen Harper confirmed Canadian Forces will withdraw from Afghanistan in 2011 as per the legislative agreement reached with the Liberal Party earlier in the year.
We’re planning for our withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan in 2011 … I don’t want to say we won’t have a single troop there, because obviously we could aid in some technical capacities. But the mission, as we know it, we intend to end it.
- Stephen Harper
Harper and Dion approach compromise on Afghanistan mission
January 28 to February 13, 2008 - Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal leader Stéphane Dion are approaching a compromise on the future of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan.
Harper set a conciliatory tone and Dion eventually dropped his long held demand that Canada exit combat operations in February 2009.
MacKay Editorial Cartoons: Critical week in Ottawa with Afghan debate, budget
Manley Panel on Afghanistan: dig in or bug out
January 22, 2008 - The Manley Panel recommends Canada remain in Afghanistan until the local government can maintain its own security, contingent on NATO providing additional troops and equipment in Kandahar.
Stephen Harper appointed former Liberal Deputy Prime Minister John Manley in October to head the independent panel considering Canada’s future role in Afghanistan.
Despite the report, Stéphane Dion holds to his position that Canada should end its combat role when it expires in February 2009.
Links:
- Final Report: Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan (PDF)
The Manley Panel on Afghanistan: Good policy is good politics
Prime Minister Harper appointed former Liberal deputy Prime Minister John Manley to head an independent and non-partisan panel of 5 prominent Canadians to review the Afghan mission, and Canada’s future involvement in Afghanistan after the current mission expires in February 2009.
The panel will deliver its report in January 2008.
Good policy is good politics.
-Hon. John Manley
former Liberal deputy Prime Minister
Liberal leader Stéphane Dion welcomed the creation of the committee but insisted the combat mission should end by February 2009.
NDP Leader Jack Layton dismissed the panel as a partisan delay tactic, saying Canadian forces should withdraw from Afghanistan immediately.
Stéphane Dion’s ultimatum
Stéphane Dion says the Liberal Party will vote to defeat the government unless the Speech from the Throne addresses four key issues. The government will be defeated if it loses the Throne Speech vote in October.
Dion says that in order to guarantee Liberal Party support of the Throne Speech, the government must:
- Immediately inform NATO that Canada’s combat mission in Afghanistan will end in 2009
- Table the Clean Air and Climate Change Act in the next Parliamentary session
- Put forward a “real” economic plan
- Put forward a credible plan to address poverty
Stephen Harper has already committed to a vote in the House of Commons on extending the Afghan mission, and he unlikely to commit the government to any policy beforehand, putting him at odds with Dion’s first demand.
If we don’t have these 4 priorities, we will not be able to support this Throne Speech.
All three political parties must vote against the Throne Speech in order to defeat the government.
Like the Liberal Party, the Bloc Québécois has also promised to defeat the government if it doesn’t commit to ending the mission in Afghanistan.
The NDP also want the government to pull out of Afghanistan, but so far have not threatened to defeat the government over the issue.
Update, September 16 - This video has received a several hundred views from the Small Dead Animals blog, not to mention dozens of interesting and insightful comments from regular readers of the Roadkill Diaries.
Stéphane Dion on Kyoto, Afghanistan and confidence votes
Stéphane Dion responded to speculation the government may prorogue the current session of parliament in order to set a new agenda with a Throne Speech this fall. Any progress on un-passed bills would be lost, unless the government took steps to reintroduce the bills into the new session.
Dion asked the government to carry forward Bill C-30, The Clean Air and Climate Change Act, should they decide to prorogue. Dion also re-stated his demand that the Canada immediately notify its NATO allies that it will end its combat mission in Afghanistan when it expires in 2009.
However, Dion would not commit to defeating the government over these issues, or to supporting a Bloc Québécois threat to bring down the government over Canada’s role in Afghanistan.
Harper, Bush and Calderon discuss the SPP, the Northwest Passage, Afghanistan and conspiracies
August 21, 2007 – President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Mexican President Felipe Calderon held a press conference to end this year’s Security and Prosperity Partnership meeting. The leaders answered questions about the SPP, conspiracy theories, Afghanistan, Canadian Arctic sovereignty and the Northwest Passage.
Harper, Bush, Calderon take questions
The SPP summit was held amid growing suspicions of a secret agenda, and accusations that police tried to incite violence by posing as protesters.
Union leader stops police provocateurs
Anti-globalization activists claim the SPP and other supra-national agreements threaten the sovereignty of Canada and other member states.
Links:
Government under attack over Afghan detainee abuse allegations
March 21 to May 7, 2007 – Opposition parties attack the government over allegations of prisoner abuse by Afghan authorities as reported in a Globe & Mail article and audio slideshow on April 23. They accuse the government of violating the Geneva Conventions by knowingly handing detainees over to Afghans for torture, and demand the resignation of Defense Minister Gordon O’Connor.
The Opposition also cites an internal government report released by the Department of Foreign Affairs under access to information, claiming government cabinet ministers illegally influenced the civil service first to deny the existence of the report, and then to black out portions of the report as part of a “massive systematic cover-up”.
The Opposition further claims that the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and the Red Cross do not have access to detainees as specified under the 2005 Afghan Detainee Agreement, and they accuse the government of lying to Canadians.
The Government says they are unable to confirm the Globe & Mail allegations, and they promised to investigate the issue further. The government also says that the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and the Red Cross do in fact have access to detainees, and that they have been unable to confirm the Globe & Mail reports of abuse. They criticize the Opposition parties for taking the allegations at face value and implying the Canadian military and Minister of Defense are guilty of lying, misconduct and cover-up.
On May 3, the government signed a new detainee agreement that formally spells-out existing arrangements allowing Canadians unrestricted access to detainees.
The accusations seem to have damaged the government’s approval ratings according to a recent SES poll showing divided support for the government’s handling of the issue.
