Militant/John Steele

TORONTO—Addressing students at Ryerson University January 16, Michel Prairie (speaking), Communist League candidate in the Toronto-Centre riding (electoral district) for Canada’s federal parliament, demanded the “immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan.”

Canada’s minister of defense, William Graham, the Liberal Party candidate in the riding, was absent but sent a letter to the meeting that was read on his behalf. The letter reminded the students of the government’s decision not to send troops to Iraq as part of the U.S.-led “coalition of the willing,” but did not mention Ottawa’s current military intervention in Afghanistan. Candidates of the Conservative Party, New Democratic Party, Marxist Leninists, Green Party, and Communist Party also participated.

The previous day, Ottawa’s military intervention was thrust into the campaign for the January 23 elections with the killing of the senior Canadian diplomat in Afghanistan and the wounding of three Canadian soldiers in Kandahar by a “suicide bomber.” There are 650 Canadian troops in Afghanistan as part of the U.S. and NATO occupation forces, with 2,000 more on the way. “Our participation in the mission in Kandahar is essentially establishing peace and security,” claimed Prime Minister Paul Martin in a statement on the death of the Canadian diplomat.

In response to a question from a student about Canadian police who are training the police force in Haiti, Prairie countered the lie of Ottawa’s so-called international peace-keeping role in the Caribbean nation. He pointed out the rightist government of that country came to power after the country’s elected president, Jean Bertrand Aristide, was forced into exile in 2004 after an uprising by ultrarightist forces aided by Washington and Ottawa. Prairie called for withdrawing Ottawa’s cops from Haiti and an end “to Canada’s efforts to prop up imperialist domination of that country.”

Through January 22, statements by Prairie and other Communist League candidates, Beverly Bernardo in Parkdale-High Park and John Steele in Eglinton-Lawrence, can be found at www.rogerstelevision.com (click “Toronto,” then “on the ballot,” and the riding.)

—JOHN STEELE  
 
 
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