Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to follow the member for Halifax, who has brought her wealth of experience to the House of Commons. It is very clear from what she has said this afternoon that she has enormous wisdom to share with members of the House of Commons. Hopefully, members from all four corners of the House will have heard her words of wisdom and will act accordingly.
I rise to speak to the motion brought in by the Liberal Party, the Liberal opposition motion that moves to form a special committee to oversee the mission in Afghanistan. It is very clear that this corner of the House we will support it, but it is a procedural motion. It is something the government ought to have brought in and presumably would have brought in.
It is much more relevant and pertinent to raise concerns about the issue as a whole, rather than the procedural motion, which is very simple and straightforward and presumably will be adopted by this House later today.
Both the member for Halifax and the member for Timmins—James Bay, when he rose to ask a question a few moments ago, raised the importance of our mission in Afghanistan.
We have incredibly competent and dedicated members of the Canadian Forces who are serving overseas. They serve in respect to our democratic system under the command, essentially, of this democratic body, which is the House of Commons.
Both the member for Timmins—James Bay and the member for Halifax noted the importance of making appropriate decisions. We have tremendous power over members of the Canadian Forces. We have to ensure the decisions we make in the House of Commons are decisions that reflect the will of the Canadian people and also reflect what the experts, those who know these areas very well, have indicated to us should be the appropriate direction.
Over the next few minutes, I want to talk both about what Canadians have said as a whole and what individuals have said about the mission in Afghanistan and how Canada can play a role that will bring about peace and development in Afghanistan, which I believe in most minds of Canadians is the most appropriate role.
A recent poll indicated that 85% of Canadians did not believe the mission should continue past February 2009. Yet a few weeks ago in the House of Commons members of other parties voted to continue the mission. Very clearly, Canadians are speaking out and saying they have concerns about this mission as a whole. They do not have concerns about our Canadian Forces personnel and their dedication. They have concerns about the political direction the government has given, through the House of Commons, to the mission.
If 85% of Canadians do not believe the mission should continue past February 2009, then one must ask the question, why? I believe it is partly because Canadians believe profoundly that our role should be to stimulate development in Afghanistan. The fact that over 90% of the resources we are investing in Afghanistan are military in nature, not developmental in nature, I believe is a source of much concern to many Canadians.
As well, I think Canadians are reflecting misgivings about what they see happening in Afghanistan, and I will come back to this in a moment.
It is important to note, as we did in the House a few weeks ago, that a report from Oxfam indicated Afghanis living in Kandahar province were asked what their major sources of insecurity were. They did not indicate the Taliban or international forces, Canadian Forces, as being the source of insecurity. The Oxfam study showed that the top areas of concern for Afghani people living in Kandahar province were: first, the Afghani police and the Afghani army; and second, warlords. I think those are two sources of misgivings that Canadians have from coast to coast to coast over the direction of our mission.
Let us look then at those who may know better the whole issue of our mission in Afghanistan and the appropriateness of it. I will quote a number of individuals because I think it is apt and relevant that we do so.
Major-General Andrew Leslie, Chief of the Land Staff, back in 2005 said very clearly, “every time you kill an angry young man overseas, you're creating 15 more who will come after you”.
Captain Leo Docherty, who is a British aide-de-camp, indicated in The Telegraph in 2006 that Afghanistan was:
—a textbook case of how to screw up a counterinsurgency...and all we are doing is surviving. It's completely, barking mad. It's a pretty clear equation—if people are losing homes and poppy fields they will go and fight. I know I would. We've been grotesquely clumsy.
André Flahaut, who is the Belgian defence minister, suggested that:
—we finally reflect on an exit strategy...The situation is deteriorating and, over time, NATO forces risk appearing like an army of occupation.
Retired Colonel Michel Drapeau indicated, “I don't think Canada is winning the war” and “This war is not winnable”.
Former head of the British armed forces indicated last summer that Afghanistan was facing “strategic failure” and “The situation in Afghanistan is much worse than many people recognize. We need to face up to that issue”.
The British House of Commons foreign affairs committee indicated:
—there has been a worrying deterioration in the security situation in Afghanistan, and that there are signs that the tactics that have brought such devastation to Iraq are being replicated in Afghanistan....negligible progress has been made reducing opium poppy cultivation.
Those who know first-hand and who ought to know about the mission in Afghanistan and its level of appropriateness say very clearly that it is not an appropriate mission. In this corner of the House, we believe, as do most Canadians, that the most appropriate use of Canadian skills and Canadian abilities is to put the emphasis on a developed Afghanistan, to put the emphasis on bringing about peace in Afghanistan.
It is important to note that, with the extension that the House considered a few weeks ago, in 2011 the mission in Afghanistan will have been a conflict that Canada has been involved with that will be two years longer than the Vietnam war. We are talking about an extensive period of time. We are talking about tremendous sacrifice in Canadian and Afghani lives. In fact, over 80 Canadians thus far have given their lives in this conflict. One can presume, with the extension to 2011, that many more will also give their lives.
In this corner of the House, we are saying that we do not believe this is the appropriate mission for Canada. We do not believe this is the appropriate mission for our very dedicated, skilled and competent armed forces. We believe there is another path to take. We believe in listening to the voices we have heard, voices from Afghanistan and also from other individuals around the world, that our approach on Afghanistan is the appropriate one for Canada and the appropriate one to bring about the peace and peaceful reconstruction, which we all want to see there.