NDP Selective On Women’s Rights
March 12th, 2008
Can you imagine the reaction of the New Democratic Party
and Canada’s major national news media if the Government
of Canada took no action and refused to participate in
a United Nations-sanctioned mission to intervene in a
war-torn, poverty-stricken nation where women and children
were brutally slaughtered daily for something as simple
as showing their faces?
The NDP, the party that likes to sell itself as THE champion
of women’s rights and the impoverished, would express
their outrage and indignation. They would accuse the Conservative
Party of abandoning women and allowing the continued brutalization
of children. The would demand that Canada “do something”!
And yet last week, International Women’s Week,
when Canada hosted six democratically-elected female members
of the Afghan National Assembly, the NDP was strangely
and hypocritically silent. These women were able to be
here thanks to the bravery and sacrifice of Canadian soldiers
and, due to the shameful lack of media coverage, most
Canadians didn’t even know about their week-long
visit.
I wish that each and every Canadian could have met these
incredible women. Can you imagine the courage it takes
to stand for election in a country where before the arrival
of the UN-backed NATO troops, a woman would be publicly
executed by the Taliban government simply for teaching
girls or not covering her face?
I wonder if Jack Layton had the courage to look these
women in the eye and repeat his absurd suggestion that
they “share power” with the Taliban, the very
group that wants to execute them for daring to be an elected
representative.
What happened to the concern of the NDP and the Liberals
that women are underrepresented in Canada’s Parliament?
Under Jack Layton’s proposal for power sharing with
the Taliban, there wouldn’t be a single female parliamentarian
in Afghanistan.
And speaking of democracy here in Canada, the opposition
parties’ claims that the Canadian Forces mission
to Afghanistan has not been subject to democratic debate
are equally hypocritical.
The former Liberal government held absolutely no debate
when Canadian soldiers were first sent to Afghanistan
in 2001. Stephen Harper is the first Prime Minister since
the Second World War who has given Parliament the power
to decide whether Canada will participate in a military
mission. The most recent debate in the House – a
Conservative initiative – was over 30 hours. And
that follows the countless hours of previous parliamentary
debate.
The Conservative ministers of Foreign Affairs and National
Defence have appeared 17 times before standing committees
of the House of Commons to discuss the Afghan mission.
Our Government has held 15 technical briefings to inform
the public. And of course there was the non-partisan Manley
commission.
And still, the NDP are trying to convince Canadians that
democratic debate is missing on this matter and they accuse
our Conservative Government of not being transparent.
Well it’s the NDP that’s certainly transparent
on this issue … transparently hypocritical. Either
you believe in women’s rights, or you don’t!
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