Canada and Afghanistan ii

There is talk of Parliament as the venue for public education of Canada's military commitment in Afghanistan. Well, the executive branch can do public education quite well. Prime Minister Harper, National Defence Minister O'Connor and Foreign Affairs Minister MacKay have spoken on the issue. The National Defence Department has published websites and made available to the media from Chief of Defence Staff General Hillier down to a corporal serving in Kandahar Province. In addition, the Canadian media has covered Afghanistan widely by itself or being embedded, has covered the return of casualties and coffins to Canada, and has hosted radio call-in shows, e.g. CBC's Cross Country Checkup. This kind of media coverage is superior to or on par with American media coverage of the US War on Terror. A better way for Parliament to debate and study the issue is to examine witnesses in House and Senate Committees. The House Standing Committee of National Defence and Veteran Affairs and the Senate Standing Committee of National Security and Defence can scrutinize the government and the military much better.