St. Albert's member of Parliament says he wants to hear your thoughts on the future of Canada's mission in Afghanistan.
Edmonton-St. Albert MP Brent Rathgeber is holding a town hall meeting Tuesday night on Canada in Afghanistan. It's part of a series of annual forums he has held over the years on various topics.
Rathgeber says he got a lot of calls from voters last year when the government announced that it was extending its mission in Afghanistan. Although combat troops are scheduled to leave this July, about 900 other troops are expected to stay in Kabul to train locals. Many had also asked him questions about veterans' benefits and support programs for troops coming back from the war.
"We have a significant number of armed forces personnel in both St. Albert and northwest Edmonton," he says, so he decided to hold a town hall meeting on the military.
The meeting, set for Feb. 22 in Edmonton's Griesbach district, will feature many officials and military members with experience in Afghanistan, including Edmonton Centre MP Laurie Hawn, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of defence. Christine Burdett of Veteran Affairs will also be there to answer questions.
Behind the wire
The federal government has said that it plans to withdraw its 2,700 combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year starting this July, says Walter Dorn, professor of defence studies at the Royal Military College of Canada.
Replacing them will be about 900 troops stationed in Kabul to train Afghan soldiers and police officers. "It's not mentoring," he notes, referring to in-field combat training. "It's going to be in the classroom and using training grounds for exercises."
Canada agreed to this new mission after intense pressure from its NATO allies to stay on in Afghanistan, Rathgeber says. "It's going to be limited in number and almost exclusively behind the wire," he says, with troops sticking close to base. Those troops will likely be specialists rather than infantry, and would face less risk from enemy attack and roadside bombs.
Troops could still get attacked on base, Dorn notes, or get drawn into another fight. "I wouldn't say you could avoid combat altogether, but it's not a combat mission." The troops would give Afghan police officers and soldiers valuable strategic lessons on topics such as planning, procurement, and integrity.
The changeover means that Canada will effectively abandon many of the projects and relationships it built during the last 10 years, Dorn notes. "We need to make sure we're not letting those people down."
Canada will have to ensure that its allies on the ground get the jobs and security they need from the Americans as they move in.
The forum runs from 7 to 9 p.m. at Major General Griesbach School at 143115 - 102A St. in Edmonton. Call 780-459-0809 for details.
