Not Everyone In Party Agrees

Layton's call to bring troops home immediately doesn't have the support of all his members and while this opposition is miniscule it highlights how ludicrous the party's position is.....doesn't Layton recognize that showing support for the people the troops are fighting would preclude any vocal opposition to policies of those terrorist groups.

The Hill Times, September 11th, 2006
NEWS STORY
By F. Abbas Rana

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Another NDP MP breaks ranks with leader over Afghanistan

NDP MP Pat Martin disagrees with Jack Layton over pulling out Canadian troops immediately

Another NDP MP is breaking ranks with party leader Jack Layton over Afghanistan and says Canadian troops should not be pulled out of the war-torn country immediately.

NDP MP Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre, Man.) told The Hill Times in an exclusive interview at his party's policy convention in Québec City on the weekend that he does not support his party leader on the controversial issue.

The issue is expected to come up again at the NDP retreat in Thunder Bay, Ont., this week.

"I'm more of a Manitoba New Democrat point of view, which [is that] we don't support the idea of the immediate withdrawal of troops. The Taliban train Al-Qaeda to bomb North America and this has been the reason for the international community to try and stop the Taliban. Therefore, it's a good reason for Canada to be part of that initiative," said Mr. Martin, referring to Manitoba Premier Gary Doer's comments also on the weekend to CTV NewsNet that, "The Taliban that we're fighting basically protected the terrorists that were involved five years ago in the 9-11 attack-which included the killing of innocent victims from Manitoba-and so I don't like any anti-military talk."

At the weekend's NDP policy convention, nearly 90 per cent of the 1,500 delegates endorsed Mr. Layton's (Toronto-Danforth, Ont.) call to withdraw troops out of Afghanistan by February 2007. The policy was the highlight of the convention.

But there was a minority of delegates who publicly disagreed with the party leadership on this issue.

NDP MP Peter Stoffer (Sackville-Eastern Shore, N.S.), whose riding comprises 20 per cent of constituents who are current and former Canadian Forces personnel, disagreed with his party's position on pulling troops out of Afghanistan and argued that an overwhelming majority of the Canadians do not have adequate information to make an informed decision on this issue.

Mr. Stoffer said before calling for an immediate withdrawal, that information on key questions such as "why are we in Afghanistan, what's the big picture, why are we in there, what do we hope to achieve, what's the end game" should be provided to Canadians.

"It's their [Canadians] sons and daughters who are dying and it's their financial dollars that are paying for this so they have a right to tell government what they think," Mr. Stoffer told The Hill Times. Four Canadian soldiers from a military base in Mr. Stoffer's riding have been killed in Afghanistan.

Once the House resumes next week, Mr. Stoffer said he's going to write letters to the chairs of the Commons Foreign Affairs and Defence committees to urge them to travel across the country and to hear Canadians' views directly on Canada's role in Afghanistan.

Moreover, he said, before calling the troops home, Canadians should know what the plan in place is after Canadian troops return home.

"If indeed that's what we want to happen, then my question to everybody who will listen is, 'What happens on March 1?' "

Malalai Joya, a member of the Afghan National Assembly who delivered a keynote address at the NDP convention, meanwhile, said Canadian Forces are indirectly helping the Afghan warlords and drug lords by fighting the Taliban. She said that if Canadians really want to help the Afghani people, they should work independently of the U.S.

"Conditions of its women will never change positively as long as the warlords are not disarmed and both the pro-U.S. and anti-U.S. terrorists are removed from the political scene of Afghanistan," said Ms. Joya, 27, the youngest elected Afghan Parliamentarian in her speech in Quebec City.

"If Canada and other governments really want to help Afghan people and bring positive changes, they must act independently rather than becoming a tool to implement the wrong policies of the U.S. government."

But both Mr. Martin and Mr. Stoffer said that it would be a mistake to interpret this speech as a call to withdraw the Canadian troops from Afghanistan.

"I don't agree with the MP Afghanistan's views, frankly. It should be noted that at no time in her speech, or, in subsequent interviews did she say Canada should withdraw from Afghanistan. She did say Canada should be careful not to support the warlords that she is incredibly critical of and justifiably so," said Mr. Martin.

Mr. Stoffer said alternative points of view to Ms. Joya's should heard.

"That's what she said but we didn't hear anybody from the other side. I would love to hear from Gen. Hillier on this or someone from NATO or somebody else who would say, 'She's right but here's what we're doing.' I would love to hear somebody from CIDA or Foreign Affairs to hear their point of view but we didn't get that," said Mr. Stoffer.

Meanwhile, two prominent NDPers announced publicly last weekend that they're quitting the party.

Carl Hétu, co-president of the NDP's Quebec campaign in the last federal election, and economist Paul Summerville, who ran unsuccessfully as an NDP candidate in the last election in the Ontario riding of St. Paul's, both said they're leaving the party. Mr. Summerville, who has since joined the Liberal Party and hopes to to attend the December Liberal leadership convention as a Bob Rae delegate, said he disagrees with the party's economic policies.

Pierre Laliberté, the NDP's candidate in the Quebec riding of Hull-Aylmer, criticized the party leadership for failing to empower the party grassroots and for spending little time in Quebec in the last election.

Meanwhile, Pierre Ducasse, a former NDP leadership candidate, played down the significance of the departure of the three prominent NDPers from the party.

"That's not what I see here. I see a lot of new members, Quebec delegation is almost 200 and 90 per cent of them has never been to an NDP convention. There's a lot of youth. Today, we have a big youth delegation that are interested in social, democratic progressive politics. So I see a lot of enthusiasm."

Mr. Ducasse, who ran unsuccessfully as a candidate in Quebec in the last federal election, said he sees brighter prospects for his party in the coming weeks and months in the province of Quebec.

Mr. Ducasse predicted that Bloc cooperation with the Tories in Parliament will backfire and that Quebecers in the next election will turn to the NDP.

"They [the Bloc] did not get any concessions from the government as we did when we negotiated with the Liberals in the 2005 budget. A lot of people [wonder] what is the Bloc for. Often the Bloc tries to call [itself], 'we're the Progressives. With their support of the Tories, people are [wondering] perhaps the Bloc is not the Social Democrat Party.

The only NDP MP ever elected in Quebec was Phil Edmonston who won the riding of Chambly, Que., in an byelection in 1990.

Arana@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times