The Harper government's appointment of a five‑member panel to review Canada's role in Afghanistan is a cynical, transparent ploy designed to cover its intentions to extend Canada's occupation of that country beyond the February 2009 deadline for withdrawal, said Communist Party of Canada in a statement issued Oct. 12.
"This allegedly `non‑partisan' panel is in fact stacked with corporate cronies, supporters of `deep integration' of Canada into the U.S. empire, and backers of the war‑making agenda of the Bush Republicans", said Communist Party leader Miguel Figueroa. "If Mr. Harper thinks that this sleight‑of‑hand will bury the Afghan war issue during a coming election campaign, then he is sadly mistaken."
Harper's intention is to bypass Parliamentary debate on this crucial issue, hoping to divert public attention from the deeply unpopular Afghan war during a federal election which could be called within weeks.
The panel's five members include three prominent Conservatives, one Liberal, and a former media host who was launched on a new career by the Liberals. Nor is it remotely representative of Canadian society, since its members are all intimately involved with the transnational and domestic corporations that control the levers of power. None of the panel members have any particular expertise or knowledge of the situation in Afghanistan, or the broader Central Asian region, but all are known to support Canada's role as an ally of Washington's military and strategic global agenda.
"Anyone who thinks this panel will do anything other than the bidding of Prime Minister Harper is in deep denial," Figueroa added. "We guarantee that their report will call for extending the military mission as a necessary part of `rebuilding' civil society in Afghanistan. But after six years of this tragic blunder, there has been no real progress towards this alleged goal.
"The real aim of the imperialist war and occupation in Afghanistan is to maintain a strong military presence by the U.S. in a region which contains critical energy resources. Canadians should treat the activities of this sham panel with complete contempt. The only honourable course for Canada is to pull the troops out now, before any more unnecessary and tragic deaths."
The individual members of the panel include:
John Manley, Foreign Affairs minister and then Deputy PM when Jean Chretien's Liberal government sent the first Canadian troops to Afghanistan six years ago, a decision which has so far cost the lives of 71 Canadians and many thousands more Afghans. Manley was celebrated for building closer ties with the White House as the US moved towards the illegal war of aggression against Iraq. Since leaving Parliament, he has been named to the boards of Nortel Networks and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Even more telling, he chairs the Task Force on the Future of North America, a project of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, which advocates a North American union, i.e. full integration into the United States.
Jake Epp is a former long‑time Conservative MP from Manitoba, and a well‑known opponent of social equality rights. He later held senior executive positions at TransCanada Pipelines, and is a prominent advocate of expanding nuclear power.
Derek Burney served as Chief of Staff to Brian Mulroney, and was directly involved in the negotiations on the Canada‑US Free Trade Agreement, which has deeply undermined Canadian sovereignty. He was then appointed Canadian ambassador to the U.S. during George Bush Sr.'s administration. Since then he has been a top executive at Bell Canada, CAE Inc., CanWest Global Communications (the media empire which relentlessly backs the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Israeli occupation of Palestine), Quebecor World, Shell Canada, and New Brunswick Power.
Pamela Wallin is best known as the former television host. But in 2001, along with Manley, she was one of the organizers of the "Canada Loves New York" rally, before being appointed as Canada's Consul General in New York City. She is the senior advisor on Canada‑US relations to the President of the Americas Society and the Council of the Americas. She serves on several corporate boards, including CTVglobemedia (with ownership in CTV and The Globe and Mail) and Oilsands Quest, an energy development company
Paul Tellier was Clerk of the Privy Council during the Mulroney era. He was then appointed CEO of Canadian National Railway, where he led the privatization of the company and its transformation into a continent‑wide operation. He then became president and CEO of Bombardier, another major Canadian corporation, which is involved in military production as well as transportation. He also serves on the Bell Canada board.