Speaking Out On The War

Since 2002, when a former Liberal government sent our troops there, 32 Canadian soldiers and one Canadian diplomat have died. The Conservative-led minority government and a majority of MPs voted last spring to extend the military mission to February, 2009. But the New Democrats want to make a pullout one of their five priorities for next federal election, and the Bloc Quebecois has demanded an emergency debate. An Ipsos-Reid poll reported by CanWest News Service last week found that half of the Canadians surveyed support that military mission and the other half oppose it -- a 50-50 divide in public opinion. To try to find out where B.C.’s representatives in the House of Commons stand now, The Vancouver Sun e-mailed these two questions to all the 36 MPs from B.C.: Question 1: Do you believe Canada should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan? Yes or No? Question 2: Why or why not? Following are the complete, unedited replies sent back by our federal politicians. (Excerpts were published Sept. 13 in The Sun) Stephen Owen (Liberal—Vancouver-Quadra): 1. As I said in my speech in parliament last Spring during the six hour debate, I did not want the troops brought home-but I voted against the extension of the mission beyond its expiry next February because the government had not properly defined the changing mission and the exit strategy. This was disrespectful of our troops and irresponsible. There is still time to do so even though the government has put Canada in the awkward position of perhaps cancelling the extention if the case can not be properly made. So, "still no". 2. As noted, we should withdraw next February unless there is proper parliamentary and public discussion of the objectives, scope and measures of success. Nina Grewal (Conservative—Fleetwood-Port Kells): Canada in making a difference in Afghanistan. We want to ensure young girls are able to receive education safely, and the Afghan people are counting on the UN-mandated, NATO-led mision to help them take back control of their country from the Taliban. The Canadian soldiers serving in this mission are following Canada's proud tradition of leadership on global issues. I remain committed to the mission in Afghanistan. Randy Kamp, (Conservative—Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge-Mission): RE: Question 1: No RE: Question 2: Canada is making a difference in Afghanistan. We want to ensure young girls are able to receive an education safely and the Afghan people are counting on the UN-mandated, NATO-led, mission to help them take back control of their country from the Taliban. The Canadian soldiers serving in this mission are following Canada's proud tradition of leadership on global issues. I remain committed to the mission in Afghanistan. Keith Martin (Liberal—Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca): In your Vancouver Sun poll of all BC MPs you are asking for simple answer to a very complicated question. "Do you believe Canada should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, Yes or No?" I do not believe our troops should be withdrawn at this point in time, but there are more important questions to be answered by our government, the answers to which are critical to the success of the mission: 1. What are CIDA's specific development plans in Afghanistan, especially in the southern regions of the country where our troops are stationed? 2. What are the plans to train Afghan security forces and how successful has this training been? The ability of Afghan security forces to maintain control over a reasonable part of their country is an essential requirement for our troops to leave. 3. What initiatives through the 3D approach (defence, diplomacy, development) are being undertaken to deal with the insurgency coming from outside Afghanistan, especially Pakistan? Unless the insurgency is dealt with, this conflict will be a war without end, as there are an infinite number of individuals willing to flow into Afghanistan from outside the country's borders to fight coalition troops. Afghanistan does not exist in isolation and yet our government is dealing with the challenges in the country in this way. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=48e449a7-8d41-4eef-b1d5-6edcc55f5a42 [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on September 18, 2006]

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