articulate editorial

Must have vote in Parliament
Imperative to introduce a formal motion in the House acknowledging Armed Forces are at war
editorial / opinion from The Toronto Sun
Michael D. Behiels, Professor of Canadian History,University of Ottawa

Message to PM: This is no time for jingoism
Opinion, March 9.

James Travers has written an incredibly lucid article on Canada's participation in Afghanistan's non-conventional, or as he calls it, civil war. He is absolutely right in arguing that the Canadian Armed Force's participation in the Afghan theatre of war should be debated and voted on in Parliament. How can the previous Liberal government and now the Conservative government justify not taking this crucial matter of committing Canadian soldiers to war to Parliament for deliberation followed by a vote? It is absolutely nonsensical.

PM William Lyon Mackenzie King established the precedent that only Parliament can decide to send Canadian troops into battle. This is not a matter that should be left up to Cabinet.

Wait until more body bags and injured soldiers start coming home. All hell will break loose. Perhaps then Prime Minister Stephen Harper will understand his government is making a very serious error of political judgment. He still has time to rectify Paul Martin's government's undemocratic decision. Going to war, conventional or non-conventional, is the most important democratic decision a government and a society can make. Why? Because going to war is inherently divisive for a government and a society as is attested to by the controversy emerging in the media and Canadian society at large. It is imperative to legitimize the decision to go to war by a formal vote in Parliament.

This democratic process acknowledges that Canada's Armed Forces are involved in a non-conventional war and therefore must abide by all the international conditions associated with being involved in such a war. In short, there are international obligations, responsibilities, and protections that apply to all the members of the Canadian Armed Forces once Canada is formally at war. Western governments ignore these international aspects at their peril. It is imperative that Harper's government introduce a formal motion in the House of Commons acknowledging that the Canadian Armed Forces are at war under the auspices of the United Nations and NATO.

I, like Travers, am confident that a majority of MPs will support the resolution. In so doing, they will be legitimizing, constitutionally and politically, the presence and role of Canadian troops in Afghanistan. The long evolution from traditional "peacekeeping" to non-conventional warfare has created ambiguity and confusion for our political leaders and MPs and this predicament has to be clarified as soon as possible before the Harper government loses its credibility and legitimacy to govern.