Duceppe threatens to topple Harper government over Afghanistan

[career_radio-checker]

Here's a thought - let's assume that 50% of the Canadian Population is opposed to the mission.  The polls also seem to indicate that 50% support the mission.

With Layton, Duceppe and Dion splitting the opposed vote that leaves 50% available to support the Conservatives.

If the Opposition parties succeed in making Afghanistan THE issue in the next election which party is likely to benefit?

Keep in mind that 40% of the vote buys a majority in this country.

TV ads of Canadian Soldiers "Fighting Chaos", digging wells, putting smiling Afghan girls back to school.

It only works IF Afghanistan is the issue.  Therefore Afghanistan probably won't be the issue.



Quebec "Nationalism" is off the table as a Liberal/Conservative wedge.  It will always be a Separatist/Federalist wedge.


Hence the push on the Environment for the Liberals and the fear of resolving "THE FISCAL IMBALANCE" by the Bloc.

And don't forget that a fraction of those eligible to vote actually go and vote -- a variable which skews the entire support/against Afghanistan as an election debate.

As for Fiscal imbalance: the only ones making noise now about fiscal imbalance are those Provinces seen as 'Have-Nots.' And right now it's only Quebec (politicians) making that noise. I thought that issue was done and over with.

So in closing I don't think this will be an election debate, I think Duceppe will try to make it one but the other parties won't bite. Even Layton is starting to realise this issue is making him lose popularity with the swing voters. The only time he is listened to is when there are heavy casualties and lately he has been very tactfull how he says how he wants the troops to be pulled out.

 

[Jaydub]

PM won't be swayed on mission
Harper prepared to be defeated on Afghanistan if necessary 
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  Font: * * * *  Mark Kennedy, CanWest News Service
Published: Wednesday, December 20, 2006
OTTAWA - Stephen Harper says he could not live with himself if he reduced Canada's military mission in Afghanistan to further his own political self-interest and that he is prepared to lose the next election if it means standing by the military.

The Prime Minister's remarks, which came yesterday as Canadian troops led an assault on a Taliban position to begin a new offensive in southern Afghanistan, stand out as his strongest defence of his Conservative government's military policy since he came to office nearly a year ago.

Dozens of soldiers have died in combat in Afghanistan, and the opposition parties have insisted the government put less emphasis on the military's combat mission in that country -- with the Bloc Quebecois hinting it might try to topple the government over the issue in Parliament this winter.

But Mr. Harper told CanWest News Service in an interview such political pressure will have no influence on his decisions.

"I don't feel pressure by threats from the Liberals or NDP or Bloc to bring me down [on Afghanistan]," he said.

"If ultimately I were brought down on that, and even defeated on that, I can live with myself. I could not live with myself making a decision on Canada's role in the world and our strategic and defence interests if I knew I had done that for political reasons that were the wrong reasons. That I could not live with."

Mr. Harper said what does influence him is the notion the Canadian soldiers who have lost their lives in Afghanistan should not have died in vain.

"The most difficult part of the job I have is phoning every single Canadian family when there is a loss and talking to them," the Prime Minister said.

"And I have to tell you that what they ask of me, in almost every case, is their assurance that the government will not, because of political pressure, abandon a mission that their sons and daughters believed in and were prepared to give their lives for."

Thoughts of Canadians giving their lives were underscored yesterday by renewed attacks in the Panjwaii district of Afghanistan, with reports of a major artillery barrage preceding a NATO advance from a forward operating base where Canadian troops have spent the past several days preparing for Operation Falcon's Summit.

Military leaders have said the offensive aims to roust Taliban fighters from embedded positions, and it is expected to be similar in scope to the heavy fighting of Operation Medusa in September, in which five Canadians were killed.

The Prime Minister said yesterday the Canadian soldiers who have gone to Afghanistan are "absolutely committed" to what they are doing.

He said they understand that they are involved in a dangerous mission, but that it is a worthy effort that will assist the international community and the Afghan people, and that it is also in Canada's long-term strategic interest to fight the global war on terrorism.

"And that's why we're there, that's why they went. They understood going there that not all of them would return."

In recent months, public opinion polls have shown Canadians are divided over whether this country's soldiers should be in Afghanistan, where our troops are set to serve until February, 2009.

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=65f4e70a-45a1-4ca2-b524-4667d09d3ce6&k=1284&p=2

Here's a leader who actually stands for something, and doesn't bend with the wind for a temporary rise in the polls.

 

[bilton090]

I don't feel pressure by threats from the Liberals or NDP or Bloc to bring me down [on Afghanistan]," he said.

"If ultimately I were brought down on that, and even defeated on that, I can live with myself. I could not live with myself making a decision on Canada's role in the world and our strategic and defence interests if I knew I had done that for political reasons that were the wrong reasons. That I could not live with."

Mr. Harper said what does influence him is the notion the Canadian soldiers who have lost their lives in Afghanistan should not have died in vain.

"The most difficult part of the job I have is phoning every single Canadian family when there is a loss and talking to them," the Prime Minister said.

"And I have to tell you that what they ask of me, in almost every case, is their assurance that the government will not, because of political pressure, abandon a mission that their sons and daughters believed in and were prepared to give their lives for."

    He's got my vote !