Opposition: We support military, not mission
As troops set to head overseas, leaders stress their disagreement is with the combat plan
Federal opposition parties declared their support for the Canadian military while maintaining their opposition to Canada’s combat mission in Iraq on Wednesday as the political battle over the war in Iraq entered a new phase.
Speaking separately after meeting with their respective caucuses, both NDP leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau said they remain opposed to Canada’s participation in the U. S.- led bombing campaign against Islamic State.
“We firmly continue to disagree with the mission they’ve ( the government) put forward,” Mulcair told reporters after a caucus meeting on Parliament Hill. “We had a different proposal. We put that out in great detail. We would have done things differently.”
But the two opposition leaders voiced enduring support for Canada’s men and women in uniform as more than 600 Canadian Forces personnel prepare to head overseas on this country’s third combat mission in just over a decade.
“Of course, we have the greatest respect individually for the brave women and men who serve in our military,” Mulcair said. “But that doesn’t mean that we now agree with the government’s decision on this mission.”
Added Trudeau: “We disagree wholeheartedly with this government’s approach and its plan ( to fight Islamic State). But that takes away absolutely nothing from the valour and the strength of the Canadian Forces, and the Liberal Party will always support our troops.”
NDP and Liberal officials told Postmedia News they are worried the government will try to equate criticism of the Iraq combat mission with criticism of the Canadian military.
With Conservative MPs having used their majority in the House of Commons to back Canada’s participation in the U. S.- led bombing campaign, the NDP and Liberals were hunkering down for a drawnout battle over Iraq.
One NDP official said the party plans to continue pressing the government for more details about the mission while touting its own plan, which emphasizes humanitarian aid, investigation of Islamic State war crimes and the transport of weapons to Iraq.
Mulcair tabled the plan in the House of Commons on Monday as an alternative to the combat mission, but it was defeated in a vote on Tuesday.
The NDP official said the party will also apply lessons from when it was a vocal critic of the Afghan mission. That includes acknowledging the threat posed by Islamic State and abstaining from “sloganeering.”
Former NDP leader Jack Layton was labelled “Taliban Jack” and his party struggled to be taken seriously on Afghanistan after he demanded the immediate return of all Canadian soldiers from Afghanistan and the launch of peace talks with the Taliban in 2006.