Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to this debate on the motion concerning Canada's role in Afghanistan. We in the Liberal Party were pleased to see the government's position move closer to the principles we have been advocating for over a year now.
We are also pleased that the government chose to base its new motion on the Liberal motion presented roughly a month ago. Under the government's new motion the mission must change, must have an end and must go beyond an exclusively military objective. Those are the three principles the Liberal caucus, the official opposition in this House and the leader of the official opposition have been defending for more than a year.
Through this motion, the government finally recognizes that the mission must change to become a mission that includes security and also must include training for the Afghan military forces and police.
I would like to read from an open letter to the Prime Minister that the Leader of the Opposition, the Liberal leader, published on February 15, 2008. The letter addresses our conditions for the mission in Afghanistan.
Dear Prime Minister, we are in agreement that we cannot abandon the people of Afghanistan, as there remains much to be done to ensure that the stability and governance institutions are in place to allow Afghans themselves to resolve their differences. But Liberals recognize that Canada’s mission has to change. We cannot simply continue to extend the same mission indefinitely. That is why we have provided the government with an alternative plan for the future of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan. The Liberal plan is consistent with our longstanding position that Canada’s mission in Kandahar must change in February 2009. It brings clarity to our goals in Afghanistan by placing a greater emphasis on stronger and more disciplined diplomatic efforts, and striking a better balance with respect to the reconstruction and development efforts that will be essential to creating a stable Afghanistan.
We, the Liberals, have been stressing and continue to stress today that the mission has to change. NATO must ensure that our troops are replaced in Kandahar province so that in February 2009 they can move on to a mission focused on training the Afghan army and police and on providing security for reconstruction projects.
As a follow-up to the Manley report, the government is telling us now that an additional 1,000 soldiers are needed. They do not say anywhere, though, how they arrive at this figure. Why not another 500, 2,000, or 5,000 soldiers?
We have heard armed forces personnel and army representatives say that about another 7,000 soldiers would be needed, but the Conservative government only talks about 1,000.
Since the government introduced its first motion and then its amended motion following the Liberal one, the leader of the official opposition and several of my colleagues, who have already risen in this debate, have been asking the government to explain this figure of 1,000 soldiers. What will be accomplished with another 1,000 soldiers? Will they be able to guarantee success, the stabilization and security of the province? If so, how did the government arrive at this figure? What studies were done? By whom and when? What consultations were held? We have been asking these questions since the government tabled its motion but we are still waiting for the answers.
We are told the mission must include a rotation of our Canadian troops so that they play some role other than simply combat. The government has been talking about providing training for the Afghan army and police and security for reconstruction projects. Why? As the colleague who preceded me said, we need the three Ds: diplomacy, defence and development. One is no good without the others. We cannot succeed at defence without diplomacy and development.
In order for Afghan society to stabilize and start to develop its economy and flourish, it will need stable institutions with rules, procedures and well trained personnel. This requires a population that accepts these institutions and considers them credible, whether it is the justice system or the taxation system or the government itself that determines the laws and regulations. The Afghan people must believe that their institutions are credible and objective. To achieve this requires diplomacy as much as defence or development.
Canada has a fine reputation around the world for development, especially the creation, expansion and capacity building of institutions. Many new democracies ask for our help with their police, legal system and judiciary, for example, to find out how to establish an objective, unbiased, well trained judiciary that can interpret the laws. Canada is also often asked to provide training for new parliamentarians.
When I was in my second year as a member of Parliament, I was asked to go to Vietnam and provide training courses. They were to show female MPs how to be good parliamentarians and represent their constituents. That is the kind of project we should be doing in various countries.
The mission in Afghanistan must have an end point, and before it ends, it must change. We must have a better balance between the military sector and reconstruction, development, diplomacy and defence.
We hope the government will provide serious answers to the questions we have been asking about the reasoning behind certain aspects of its motion.
