Clarity (II)
Said in Parliament:
Hon. Gordon O'Connor (Minister of National Defence, CPC): Mr. Chair, I wonder if the hon. member basically supports our effort in Afghanistan or not, because it is not clear to me. That is the party that opposed our being in NATO until a few years ago. I do not want to go back to World War II and that history. That party does not want the military involved in anything.
Does that party support our effort in Afghanistan or not? That is what I want to know.
Hon. Jack Layton: Mr. Chair, I do not know what these broad sweep characterizations are all about. I do not know why the minister would go back to World War II and start drawing on the debates that happened at the time. Our party's history on those matters is very clear.
Perhaps the hon. member did not have an opportunity to watch the tribute paid to our former leader, Tommy Douglas, which highlighted the fact that he sought the opportunity to go and fight for this country against the Fascists. I make no apology for that act of courage.
Perhaps the hon. member does not know that my grandfather resigned from his seat as a cabinet minister in the Quebec legislature because at the time, the government of Quebec would not support going to war against the Fascists. I make no apology for our position on these issues.
Those who would try to portray that asking questions about a mission and asking about issues like exit strategies, terms of engagement, the rules under which the mission will be conducted, the objectives and how they will be measured and reported back, is somehow indicating that there is a lack of support for our service personnel who are risking their lives, are frankly not doing a good service to this country's democratic system.
I took good care to quote the very questions that were asked by the Minister of National Defence when he was in opposition, the exact questions. I would have thought that the defence minister might have dug out that speech prior to making his address to us today and made a point of answering the very questions he said any government should answer if it is sending its Canadian soldiers into harm's way.
Said by L.T. Smash (not a member of Parliament):
Mr. Layton poses some good questions. However, he avoids answering the fundamental one: Does the NDP support Canada's effort in Afghanistan?
Hon. Gordon O'Connor (Minister of National Defence, CPC): Mr. Chair, I wonder if the hon. member basically supports our effort in Afghanistan or not, because it is not clear to me. That is the party that opposed our being in NATO until a few years ago. I do not want to go back to World War II and that history. That party does not want the military involved in anything.
Does that party support our effort in Afghanistan or not? That is what I want to know.
Hon. Jack Layton: Mr. Chair, I do not know what these broad sweep characterizations are all about. I do not know why the minister would go back to World War II and start drawing on the debates that happened at the time. Our party's history on those matters is very clear.
Perhaps the hon. member did not have an opportunity to watch the tribute paid to our former leader, Tommy Douglas, which highlighted the fact that he sought the opportunity to go and fight for this country against the Fascists. I make no apology for that act of courage.
Perhaps the hon. member does not know that my grandfather resigned from his seat as a cabinet minister in the Quebec legislature because at the time, the government of Quebec would not support going to war against the Fascists. I make no apology for our position on these issues.
Those who would try to portray that asking questions about a mission and asking about issues like exit strategies, terms of engagement, the rules under which the mission will be conducted, the objectives and how they will be measured and reported back, is somehow indicating that there is a lack of support for our service personnel who are risking their lives, are frankly not doing a good service to this country's democratic system.
I took good care to quote the very questions that were asked by the Minister of National Defence when he was in opposition, the exact questions. I would have thought that the defence minister might have dug out that speech prior to making his address to us today and made a point of answering the very questions he said any government should answer if it is sending its Canadian soldiers into harm's way.
Said by L.T. Smash (not a member of Parliament):
Mr. Layton poses some good questions. However, he avoids answering the fundamental one: Does the NDP support Canada's effort in Afghanistan?
posted by Lt Smash at 8:28 AM
4 Comments:
I have to admit as well that Jack won the word war during these exchanges between him and the Minister of Defence.... but indeed, he didn't anwser the damn question!!!!!
I agree that the government must defend its position, and could do a better job of explaining the deployment in terms of strategy and so on.
Is it too much to ask that a national political party take a position on a crucial question of foreign policy? Maybe it is.
In my view, who cares about what the NDP thinks. L'importance du support du NDP est presqe inexistant comparé au support qui serait requis de la part de la population en général. Bien que Layton ait gagné cette ronde de débat (quoique l'adversaire n'était pas bien imposant), cela ne réglera pas le problème de désinformation des Canadiens. I think instead of waisting their energy to find out who is the wittiest, they should try to sell their ideas to the persons who elect them.
Shouldn't you be marking papers right now Pavlichenko?
I put the spotlight on the debate in Parliament because I think Canadians should care what is said in Parliament and by whom.
If more people criticized the juvenile debate in Parliament, the free ride that parliamentarians enjoy would come to an end. The free ride is that they know that what they say in Parliament goes virtually ignored, and the only thing that makes news is partisan bickering rather than qualitative debate.
How many times did I see Liberal backbenchers read speeches hot off the fax machine?
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