Defence minister on tour to promote Afghan mission
Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor will visit four provinces in four days this week to try to build support for Canada's mission in Afghanistan.
O'Connor said he wants to explain to Canadians that Canada is playing an important role in the rebuilding of Afghanistan and its mission in the troubled country must continue.
"Well, I'm trying to get out across the country trying to explain why we are in Afghanistan and the progress were are making in Afghanistan," he said.
O'Connor is expected to be in Vancouver on Tuesday morning. From there, he will go to Calgary, Toronto and Quebec City. He said he knows that the Canadian public is divided over the mission, but he wants to make the case that the mission is making a difference.
"We have a darned good case. We are there because the Afghans want us there. It is a UN-mandated NATO mission there."
Canada has more than 2,000 troops in Afghanistan, with the majority stationed in the volatile province of Kandahar. Forty-two Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died since Canada first sent troops there in early 2002.
Canada also maintains an embassy in Kabul andis providing thefunding for a number of development projects, including the building of schools, roads, wells and irrigation ditches. Since 2002, Afghanistanhas beenthe single largest recipient of Canadian bilateral aid.
A recent poll conducted for CBC found that Canadians are divided and worried about the mission and the number of Canadians who "strongly approve" of military participation in Afghanistan is at its lowest level yet.
In the survey of 2,005 Canadians conducted by Environics Research Group from Nov. 2 to Nov. 6, only 19 per cent said they strongly approved of Canadian military participation in the country. The poll is considered accurate within 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
That approval rating is a four percentage point drop from a similar poll in October, and the lowest level of strong support overall in four years. When the first survey was conducted in 2002, 38 per cent said they strongly approved of Canada's presence in Afghanistan.
Overall, 50 per cent of Canadians asked in November expressed some degree of approval. That is, they either "somewhat approve" or "strongly approve" of Canada's participation in Afghanistan.
Eric Margolis, a defence analyst, said O'Connor has a tough sell on his hands.
"I don't think he is going to change many minds at this point, particularly because he doesn't have anything new to offer in way of good news."
On Friday, O'Connor is scheduled to meet with NATO officials in Quebec City, where he is expected to tell them that Canada is handling more than its share of the mission and to encourage them to send troops to Afghanistan.
About 300 members of NATO's parliamentary assembly are meeting this week in Quebec City. The group is considered independent of NATO. Its focus is to reflect public opinion on issues facing NATO.