January 25, 2007
Dear activists,
As reported by CTV.ca on Wednesday January 24, "A Liberal MP is complaining about political interference in a Commons Defence Committee visit to Afghanistan." CTV reports that while aid workers and soldiers will meet with the MPs at the Kandahar Airfield "the committee will not be allowed to meet with any local Afghan leaders."
Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic Ujjal Dosanjh said, "This is a parliamentary committee and I think it's highly improper of the minister to manipulate what the committee sees or doesn't see."
Liberal Defence Critic Denis Coderre added, "It's OK when a minister of the Conservative party is going there, there's security for him but there's no security for our members of Parliament who want to go? Is that what we're saying?"
By Thursday January 25, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor had somewhat relented and the MPs were allowed outside the wire, but they were still required to stay within the perimeter of the camp.
The eight MPs in this delegation to Afghanistan are:
Claude Bachand (Bloc), Saint Jean, Quebec - Bachand.C@parl.gc.ca
Carolyn Bennett (Liberal), St. Paul's, Ontario - bennec@parl.gc.ca
Dawn Black (NDP), New Westminster-Coquitlam, British Columbia - blackd@parl.gc.ca
Steven Blaney (Conservative), Lévis-Bellechasse, Quebec - Blaney.S@parl.gc.ca
Rick Casson (Conservative), Lethbridge, Alberta - casson@rickcasson.com
Ujjal Dosanjh (Liberal), Vancouver South, British Columbia - Dosanjh.U@parl.gc.ca
Cheryl Gallant (Conservative), Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, Ontario - Gallant.C@parl.gc.ca
Joe McGuire (Liberal), Egmont, Prince Edward Island - mcguij@parl.gc.ca
THE DEMAND
Use the form below to e-mail any of the MPs listed above.
If you live in any of the ridings noted above, you may want to e-mail your Member of Parliament and raise the questions that you have about Canada's military mission in Afghanistan. Your questions may include those that we recently put to Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor:
Dear <your MP's name>,
Given your recent fact-finding mission to Afghanistan, I would like to ask you the following questions:
1. Given that the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan Lieutenant-General Karl Eikenberry has acknowledged that there will be escalating violence in the war over the next several months, how high do the Canadian Forces project casualties will rise in 2007? Media reports have suggested a doubling of last year's casualties over just the next six months.
2. The Defence Minister has recently stated that the cost of the war will total $4 billion by 2009. How much does the Harper government intend to spend on the war in Afghanistan in 2007? Media reports have suggested the war could cost as much as $1.5 billion this year.
3. Analysts have suggested that without addressing "the problems of Afghan poverty, corruption and meddling by Pakistan" that "fighting battles against the Taliban will achieve nothing in the long run..." What is the Harper government doing to ensure that these key factors are being addressed so that our soldiers are not unnecessarily being put in harm's way.
I hope that you can answer these questions for me.
Sincerely,
<your name>
Read more
- Visit the peace section on our website with link to the Marching Orders report - How Canada abandoned peacekeeping - and why the UN needs us now more than ever.
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