Harper claims Afghanistan is better off today — What’s the truth?

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Autocratic rule — a growing Toronto picket hits postal cuts 10 SOCIALIST ACTION APRIL 2014 The Stephen Harper-led Conservative federal gov­ ernment announced the end of Canada’s large armed presence in Afghanistan on March 12. Harper told re­ turning Canadian troops that “you fought to loosen the grip of terror and repression.” He added, “the people of Afghanistan are better off today because of Canada’s investments.”

The occasion, at least officially, marked the end of 12 years of Canadian military intervention in the country.

The war aligned Canada closer to American foreign policy. It claimed the lives of 158 Canadians, along with many thousands of Afghan civilians.

But how true are Harper’s claims? Former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien sent troops to Afghani­ stan in 2001 following the terrorist attacks of 9/11. In the wake of massive demonstrations across Canada against joining the U.S. war in Iraq in 2003, Chretien instead began ramping up the Afghanistan “mission.” trend in Ottawa Unwarranted secrecy, stonewalling, il­ legal legislative initiatives, and voter sup­ pression—these continue to be the hall­ marks of the Stephen Harper-led Conserva­ tive government.

Some fall flat, as did Harper’s attempt to appoint an ineligible judge to the Su­ preme Court of Canada, and to re-write the law that stands in his way. The high court judges voted six to one to strike down both the appointment and the amendment that would have loosened the requirement to fill the Quebec vacancy with a judge or lawyer who practises law in Quebec.

On other fronts, however, Harper’s auto­ cratic agenda is forging ahead. A prime ex­ ample is the lifelong gag order imposed on some of Ottawa’s top officials and lawyers in the name of “national security.” Anyone who deals with foreign and defense policy, security, and intelligence, including law­ yers who work with the Communications Security Establishment and the Justice De­ partment, faces up to 14 years in prison for disclosing information without permission.

Even former officials are gagged in this surreal post-Snowden move to blunt criti­ cism of government, on issues ranging from military operations in Afghanistan to security services that spy on the public.

When it comes to the release of govern­ ment documents through the freedomof-information system, longer delays are almost a certainty. A Federal Court judge said she was unable to censure National Defense for taking a three-year extension on delivering records requested under the Access to Information Act.

The request, made in late 2010, was for documents related to the sale of surplus Canadian military assets to Uruguay. Now, lengthy delays are entrenched in jurispru­ dence, anchored there short of explicit leg­ islative change.

Secrecy can have literally explosive consequences when it concerns the trans­ portation of hazardous goods. After the Lac-Megantic, Quebec, rail disaster in July 2013 that took 47 lives and reduced a town centre to fire and ashes, concern remains high over the exponential growth in the number of trains carrying crude oil through densely populated urban areas, including mid-Toronto. But Canadian National and Canadian Pacific refuse to release details about hazardous goods transiting Toronto and other cities—even long after the train has departed.

Although railways across North American have been forced to step up safety proce­ dures, crews, inspections and training, resi­ dents have a right to know what’s passing through their neighbourhoods. And they have a right to say no, especially because there are cleaner and safer energy altena­ tives to bitumen-laced oil and fracked gas. Finally, the voter suppression tactics of the Harper Conservative have sections of the corporate elite and their obedient media upset. (In fact, as we go to press in early April, rumours are rife that the government may make a partial retreat on some of its plans.)

The bone of contention is the Fair Elec­ tions Act, a name that fans of George Or­ well can truly appreciate. It would do away with votes cast by people with only a voter information card, or with a friend, family member or neighbour to “vouch” for them. About 120,000 people voted this way in 2011. Many of them were seniors, youths, aboriginal people or disadvantaged citi­ zens—arguably people less likely to vote Conservative.

According to Pierre Poilieve, Minister of State for Democratic Reform, the reforms to the voting law are about putting a stop to fraudulent votes. But as Marc Mayrand, Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer, stated, of all the millions of ballots cast in the 2008 and 2011 federal elections, only 18 com­ plaints were lodged about possible ineli­ gible voting.

An Angus Reid Global poll in early March showed that 62 per cent of Canadi­ ans believe that the Conservative govern­ ment is settling political scores with its election law—especially against Elections Canada, which the new law would bar from promoting electoral participation via ads, as well as weaken its ability to investigate wrongdoing.

What prompted this tit for tat? Recall the “robo calls” affair, which is currently before the courts. It involves accusations against the Conservative Party over alleged widespread efforts to suppress the votes of non-Conservative supporters—by sending Despite the Taliban’s initial willingness to co-operate in pursuing al-Qaeda, NATO forces occupied the country and waged the conflict unilaterally, only to have Taliban fighters retreat to mountainous regions to pursue a pain­ fully protracted war.

Canada’s participation stirred domestic political un­ rest. A majority of Canadians opposed the intervention from the start, and during most of the 12 years of the de­ bacle. In 2009, Prime Minister Harper prorogued Par­ liament for a second time, then to shield his government from mounting allegations of handing over prisoners to Afghan authorities for torture—a war crime in violation of the Third Geneva Convention. In 2006, New Demo­ cratic Party convention delegates, led by the Socialist Caucus, debated and passed a resolution calling for an end to Canada’s role in the war. Antiwar opposition was visible in the streets, where large demonstrations took place at least annually.

Canada’s many years of involvement in Bush’s jin­ goist “crusade,” indifferent to the lessons learned by A protest against the plan to terminate door to door mail delivery hit Toronto streets and Canadian mass media on Sat­ urday afternoon, March 15. Close to 100 people answered the call of Socialist Action and braved freezing high winds to picket the constituency office of Con­ servative Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver (who is now the Finance Minister), at a busy uptown intersection.

Members of more than a dozen labour unions, political parties and community groups rallied to demand that Canada Post Corporation and the Conservative federal government of Stephen Harper reverse the decision to phase out home mail delivery to over 5 million address­ es, and refrain from increasing the price of postage.

Demonstrators walked next to the MP’s office entrance. They chanted: Stop the Cuts at Canada Post, Save Letter Carrier Jobs, No Cuts No Price Hikes—Defend Postal Services, and Seniors Demand Home Mail Delivery.

About one quarter of the crowd ap­ peared to be members of the Toronto Local of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). The rest identified as partisans of UNIFOR, UNITE HERE, OPSEU, CUPE, secondary school teachers, and a host of local groups—in­ cluding Put Food in the Budget and the United Jewish People’s Order.

Placards signed by Socialist Action, them to false polling place locations.

It goes beyond mere chutzpah that the Tories are taking this opportunity to skew countries on Earth. Over one-third of the population is unemployed and living below the poverty line. Even with all the foreign aid, the country is ranked last, or in the bottom 10 for every category in the Human Devel­ opment Index.

The only industry in which Afghanistan leads the world is the production of addictive drugs. The opium industry accounts for over one-third of the country’s GDP, with 10% of the population working in the poppy fields to generate almost all of Asia’s supply of heroin. No solution to the problem of poverty can be found here, though, as most of the profits go to powerful drug lords.

Perhaps the most tragic failure concerns physical in­ security. The magnitude of the problem is underscored by the March 20 attack on Kabul’s luxury Serena Hotel, which left nine dead, including two Canadian aid work­ ers. In the lead-up to the April 5 Afghan presidential election, a spate of deadly attacks occurred. The Taliban is hardly gone, and given the country’s stagnation and rampant corruption, Afghanistan is doomed to the same cruel fate of countries devastated by foreign intervention—until the menace of imperial­ ism is ended. Foreign powers, whether Russian, Paki­ stani, or Western, can drop bombs and kill people, but only democratic grassroots organizing by the Afghan people themselves can make their country self-govern­ ing and prosperous.

Fight Imperialism! Canada out of NATO! NATO out of Afghanistan! n Socialist Action plus a large SA banner were highly vis­ ible on the street, as well as in the TV coverage of the event broadcast by CBC, CTV, CITY-TV, OMNI-TV and CP24.

Participants sported buttons demand­ ing, “Save Canada Post,” distributed by CUPW, and bought 13 bright yellow buttons produced by SA bearing the slo­ gan “Capitalism is Organized Crime.”

Protest organizer and SA Federal Sec­ retary Barry Weisleder told the crowd, “The scheme to curtail home mail deliv­ ery is part of a plan to gut the federal public sector. It is part of a plan to shrink postal workers’ pensions and to break a progressive, democratic union. It is part of a scheme to sell profitable parts of Canada Post Corporation to private sec­ tor vultures.”

Darryl Ellis, president of the Toronto Local of CUPW, pledged that the cam­ paign to save home mail delivery “is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. We will con­ tinue to fight until we win.” Representa­ tives from OPSEU, UNIFOR, PFIB, the NDP Socialist Caucus, UJPO and Youth for Socialist Action also addressed the shivering crowd.

Weisleder, two days earlier, submitted a written application for a meeting with Joe Oliver. Should the request be grant­ ed, organizers would like all the groups involved in the Saturday protest to send a rep to that close encounter with the Tory MP for Eglinton-Lawrence. n election procedures to their advantage, and to grease the skids for their hated agenda of austerity, authoritarianism, and war. n

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