House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 57% of the vote.
Emergency Preparedness February 26th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, this is actually the formalization of a long-standing agreement that has been in place. Basically, it allows for a formal agreement permitting armed forces from either side of the border to render assistance in a time of a civil emergency.
This is all about ensuring safety on both sides of the border, allowing for mutual cooperation to the benefit of the citizens of both Canada and the United States.
It sounds to me as if those tinfoil hats are getting a little tight down there.
Afghanistan February 25th, 2008
I was not speaking to you.
Afghanistan February 25th, 2008
It is questions and comments.
Afghanistan February 25th, 2008
It is called comments and questions.
Afghanistan February 25th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I am always puzzled when that member and members of the NDP cloak some of their questions and comments in this rhetoric of casting aspersions on everyone else in the House but then somehow draping this sanctimonious cloak over themselves to say that anybody else who makes a comment that might be the least bit offensive or rubs somebody the wrong way is terrible but they can do the same thing and not have that standard apply to them.
What I find even more troubling and contradictory is the suggestion that peace is just going to arrive, that it is just going to fall out of the air somehow in Afghanistan, that development will expand, that we will be able to build more schools and roads and that more programs will simply appear without any security. That is where there is such an absolute disconnect, bordering on disillusionment, when we hear this coming from the NDP.
As for her umbrage taken at the comments made by the Minister of Veterans Affairs, she should check the record. The truth hurts. When we check the record and see the actual voting pattern over the last 10 years by that member and other members of the NDP when it comes to support for the military and veterans, the record speaks for itself.
When budgetary requests were made by this government and the previous one, the NDP refused to support those budgetary implementations that would have given greater aid and support and the necessary equipment, in some cases, for the military and veterans.
I am puzzled when I constantly hear that member express such outrage at anyone who might take a contrary position. However, at the same time, if anybody criticizes the NDP when it puts its position forward or if anybody points out some of the obvious contradictions, some of the absolutely unalienable problems and inability to reconcile the reality with what it is calling for, it is personal. It is a terrible outrageous attack and somehow shocking and appalling that anybody would ever raise such questions about the position of the NDP.
The cold, hard truth is that in Afghanistan today we need that security for the type of ideal panacea that the NDP thinks is just going to arrive somehow on its own. That is the reality.
The member has been there. To her credit, she has seen with her own eyes what is taking place in that country, which is what makes it even more perhaps appalling that she has come back and contradicted what she has seen with her own two eyes: that the security that the Canadian Forces are providing in Afghanistan is absolutely integral, inextricable from the development and the type of work that she herself wants to see happen.
I do not know how she can reconcile that. I do not know how she can logically suggest that these things can happen without the presence of the Canadian Forces and the military of other countries.
Then she has the audacity to stand and suggest somehow that she can speak for the entire international community and the reason that it is not going to Kandahar is that it has come to the same conclusion, as disconnected from reality as it may be, that it does not think that the mission is successful.
She sure does not speak for me nor for this government and I do not think others in the international community would want the NDP speaking for them either.
Afghanistan February 25th, 2008
Missing in action.
Afghanistan February 25th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague opposite for his participation and his significant contributions to this debate.
However, he should and would know that the mission began under a previous government, of which, granted, he was not a member. Therefore, when he speaks of matters being snuck by Parliament, I would remind him that the previous mission began without this type of substantive debate, without a mandate from Parliament, so to speak.
He spoke of the need for clarity of words and of purpose, of which I certainly agree. That direct line must be communicated to our soldiers. Their very existence depends on it and on the actions they take in the field.
However, would the member not agree that the important signal that is sent from Parliament is in fact contained in the motion? We can quibble about words and talk about interpretations but I think the substantive message is clear, that soldiers, and I heard him say it, and their leadership must use that discretion in the field, which sometimes, and I know he will agree, does include the use of lethal force. That is contained as part of this mission. Does he agree with that interpretation?
Afghanistan February 25th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest and intent to the comments of the leader of the New Democratic Party. It would appear obvious to me and to others listening that he would advocate a position that promotes women's rights, protection, development and all of the good things that are currently happening in Afghanistan, but that this continue without the security perimeter that allows for the very work he espouses and allows for the expansion into areas of Afghanistan where people's lives are still at risk from attack from the Taliban should they come back.
What I am most troubled with this contradictory position is, does the leader of the NDP ever believe that the military have a role to protect and expand the type of development to which he and his party seem to cling so fervently? Does he ever believe that the military thus are enablers to allow for this to happen?
I would point to one historically significant fact and it is one that resonates far and wide, particularly here in Canada. It is the mission in Rwanda, where we know that half a million, and some estimates go as high as a million, people died because a UN commander at the time, General Dallaire, was prevented from doing what he felt was appropriate.
In reading the general's book and hearing him speak so passionately about this issue, he was in a position where it is almost on all fours with what the leader of the New Democratic Party is espousing, and that is having the military present but restricted from doing the very work which enables the type of development that he so passionately believes in. There is a disconnect of significant proportions in what the NDP leader has said and what he would actually hope to achieve in his position.
Afghanistan February 25th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, a new dawn is breaking out of the black.
I absolutely do agree with my colleague from Bourassa who said something very similar, that we cannot have soldiers participating in this mission without the possibility of combat. Clearly what we are seeing in Afghanistan today with the operational mentoring and liaison training that is going on with the Afghan forces is that they are building capacity each and every day. The clear goal and what is envisioned in the motion is to continue to raise that capacity where Afghan soldiers will eventually be able to provide their own security.
Afghanistan February 25th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I think the motion speaks for itself as to the dates and to the intent, and that will be the will of the House.
However, I do not think the member took time to read the motion. She obviously did not read history because if she had she would know that the Russians invaded Afghanistan. They had no NATO backing and no UN mandate. They were not there at the invitation of the Afghanistan government. Surely the member is being delusional if she is trying to compare the occupation of Afghanistan by the Russians with the current effort by an international coalition with a UN mandate, NATO-led and with 60 countries there participating in development, now with a democratically elected government looking for assistance from Canada. Surely she is not suggesting, as the NDP seems to be, that sending minstrels and fruit-pickers to Afghanistan will improve that country.