Rae calls vote to extend Afghan mission a 'setup'

[Said1]

Shut up Bob. Bob the boob, ex-premier of Ontario, potential furture Liberal party leader. Ignatif and Brison keep playing him, this is starting to get interesting again, as the battle between those three ensues.

According to the article, only the Liberals were allowed a free vote on that one, I don't see how?? Something to research I suppose.

Rae calls vote to extend Afghan mission a 'setup'
Updated Fri. May. 19 2006 7:29 PM ET



Liberal leadership candidate Bob Rae said Friday that this week's vote on extending Canada's Afghanistan mission was a political trap set by the Conservatives to create partisanship in the Commons.

"I thought it was a setup from the start," Rae told Mike Duffy Live.

He said the vote was meaningless considering that all parties originally agreed the mission would end in 2007. And during a six-hour debate before the vote, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he would still extend the mission by a year if the motion failed to pass, or he would ask for a mandate from the Canadian people.

"What Mr. Harper wants is an excuse to call an election," Rae argued.

"He'd like nothing better to call an election even before the Liberal convention (when a new party leader will be chosen). And he wants to be able to go to the Canadian people and say, 'Holy smokes ... these terrible Liberals are doing these things to me so I have to call an election and ask for your confidence."

The Bloc Quebecois and New Democratic Party opposed the motion, while Liberal MPs were allowed to vote as they pleased.

In the end, the motion passed by a narrow margin of 149-145, extending the mission to February 2009.

After the vote, Harper told reporters that "support for the mission is a lot stronger than the vote. There were a lot of people in there who just wanted to vote against the government."

He accused the Bloc of playing political games over the issue, and attributed his narrow victory to Conservatives and "certain Liberals who acted on principle."

Rae said he would not have supported the motion, unlike fellow leadership candidates Michael Ignatieff and Scott Brison.

"I personally would not have voted in favour of it, because I think it was a setup and I don't think the Opposition should get themselves into that kind of a position," Rae said.


He also criticized Harper's comment during the debate that "We honour those who take risks and make the ultimate sacrifice by staying the course and supporting their mission."

"All this talk about supporting our troops, everybody in Canada supports the troops. That's not the issue," Rae said Friday.

"The issue is, is it a good idea now to be talking about the kind of nation will be going forward after 2007 when there is all sorts of issues, all sorts of questions that need to be answered?"

The Globe and Mail reported Wednesday that the government's sudden decision to call a debate and vote was in part because NATO wants Canada to take over command of the entire Afghan mission in 2008.

Canada has around 2,300 soldiers in Afghanistan, with most stationed at Kandahar Airfield

Linl