Defence Committee Tables Afghanistan Report, Calls for Debate, 'Sometime'

After hearing testimony from over fifty "stakeholders" over the last year, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on National Defence (NDDN) tabled a 174-page report today, "Canadian Forces in Afghanistan."

G&M focused on the NDDN's belief that the Afghanistan adventure is "tarnished by detainee abuse," and add a mis- (or lack of) reading of at least one of the Committee's 19 recommendations. It seems that the GM only read the executive summary, as seen in their claim that the report "called for a debate to take place one year from now." The CP made the same mistake, reporting that the Committee said "Parliament should hold a debate halfway through next year." Even CanWest read past page 9, noting that the Committee, in their 4th (out of 19) recommendation[s], call for a debate "without delay."

The full passage, on p. 59, reads:

The government should hold a debate on the Canadian mission in Afghanistan without delay, to provide Canadians with an accurate and up-to-date understanding of the aim and status of the mission, Canada’s role in it and to inform government decision-making relating to the mission deadline in February 2009.