Prime Minister Harper Tells CBC - Canada is at War!
"...the fact of the matter is we are fighting a war in Afghanistan - we need to beat the taliban on the battlefield"
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Prime Minister STephen Harper told CBC Radio that Canada is at 'War'. Oh really? I thought we were on a mission in Afghanistan to rebuild the nation and to assist the Afghan people to govern and police themselves.
On Saturday, September 16th on the CBC Radio show, The House, an interview with the Prime Minister features him telling the interviewer that Canada is at war with the Taliban.
Excuse me SIR, I have NO recollection of Parliament declaring war! I have no recollection of the Opposition being able to ask questions in Question Period concerning the fact that Canada is 'at war'.
What does 'being at war' actually mean? Are we contemplating invoking The War Measures Act? What are the implications of a 'state of war' on this nation? What are the financial implications to taxpayers since we are 'at war'?
I hold the Harper Conservative government responsible for a blind race towards a formal state of war and to implement a war economy in this country.
Shame on Stephen Harper for being such an extreme right wing ideologue! Shame on him for his flippant and poor choice of words.
Regina Leader Post
The House
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philtaj,
The law in Canada is quite clear. If we are at war, the Parliament of Canada must vote on and declare war. Otherwise we are not at war.
Suck it up. Leftdog is right.
I for one, am for the mission, but right now, we are spinning our wheels n a quagmire. Pleas tell me the strategy and plan, with measurable goals, that will lead to the deeat of the "taliban" or whomever we are fighting there. I'm all ears, because we haven't heard it from Harper yet.
Posted by Mike | 8:57 am, September 16, 2006
gee leftdog, seems the NDP have been calling the Afghan mission a WAR for some time...
''Despite the lack of answers, the government continues spending billions of dollars on the WAR in Afghanistan – a WAR that the government refuses to explain. A WAR that has claimed dozens of Canadian lives, and left dozens of other Canadians wounded.
By participating in this
aggressive counterinsurgency WAR, Liberals and Conservatives claim to be making Canada safer. But Canadians are asking themselves whether Canada's role in this WAR is actually making our country less secure. These are valid questions.''
http://www.ndp.ca/node/4119
Posted by wilson | 11:45 am, September 16, 2006
BUT for a Prime Minister to call it a WAR when he has always insisted that it is a 'rebuilding' mission.
And as Mike said, "The law in Canada is quite clear. If we are at war, the Parliament of Canada must vote on and declare war. Otherwise we are not at war."
Posted by leftdog | 12:33 pm, September 16, 2006
hmmmm
If that was true, Jack would have been on it already, like when Martin re-assigned our troops to Kandahar, or at/during the debate on extending the mission for 2 years.
Does a UN sanctioned (they gave unanimous consent to the an extension & more troops) NATO mission require a declaration of war.?
When the 'enemy' are terrorists and and the country's army is on our side, who do you declare war against?
Karzai will be here for 3 days next week, I'm sure it will come up. Will Jack snub him the way the Libs snubbed Australia's Howard?
Posted by wilson | 5:53 pm, September 16, 2006
harper has good political survival skills hence the timing to bring President Karzai to this country.
While this is a thinly disguised ploy on harper's part to try and shore up falling polls (because of his Afghanistan mess), it is shrewd politics.
Posted by leftdog | 6:36 pm, September 16, 2006
When the leader of a country visits to thank Canadians for helping his people, maybe the 'why are we there' will be answered.
MSM seems to only cover the combat stories.
I also want to know about the people, and how (if) their lives have changed.
Even this die hard Tory needs to know that our efforts are not in vein.
Posted by wilson | 9:21 pm, September 16, 2006