O'Connor Attacked For Not Taking Part In Afghanistan Debate

In an on-line exchange on Globeandmail.com Monday afternoon, Liberal Ujjal Dosanjh, Bloc MP Claude Bachand and the NDP's Dawn Black all expressed varying degrees of support for the previous Liberal government's move to send 2,200 Canadian soldiers to help restore order in volatile Kandahar Province, in southern Afghanistan. But all three defence critics slammed the government for restricting Parliamentary discussion of the issue to an update by the defence minister when the House reconvenes in April. "The Bloc Québécois has always argued that Parliament has to be involved," he wrote. "A decision from Parliament is much more decisive than a cabinet decision. The fact that decisions in Parliament are public gives a better understanding of all the issues of the mission to the whole population of Canada." Ms. Black said the decision to avoid a vote, or even a take-note debate, is clearly at odds with Prime Minister's promise during the election campaign to put all serious issues before Parliament. "I'm shocked that the Minister [Mr. O'Connor] has contradicted that commitment," she said. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060227.woconn0227/BNStory/National [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on March 1, 2006]

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