Defence policy: "Dosanjh is quite simply embarrassing"

The national defence critic is not unique amongst his fellow Liberals. Another excellent report by Babbling Brooks, at The Torch, on the debate on the National Defence Main Estimates:

The federal Liberals have been an enormous disappointment on the issue of Canada's involvement in Afghanistan since initiating the mission under Jean Chretien. Perhaps this is because they did the right thing for the wrong reason: committed us to Afghanistan not because they believed the cause was a just one and Canadian participation could make an crucial difference in a difficult part of the world, but because they wanted an excuse to avoid Iraq.

This was never more evident than during the debate on November 7th, when more than a half-dozen Liberal MP's, some of whom were cabinet ministers in the previous government, rose in the House and contributed absolutely nothing of value to the important discussion regarding defence spending in this country...

Keith Martin, a former Parliamentary Secretary to the MND in abbreviated Paul Martin government, and as such someone who should be expected to question government policy from an informed perspective, did no such thing...

After suggesting we're losing a war in Afghanistan where we're participating at the request of both the host government and the international community, Martin went on to ask why Canada isn't committing troops to Darfur...

If Martin believes we're failing in Afghanistan, why is he so eager to have us jump into a categorically worse situation in Darfur? Islamic militants, a logistics nightmare, no allied support, and opposition from both the AU and the Sudanese government? Mr. Martin is bright enough to see the inherent contradiction in his positions on Afghanistan and Sudan, but it seems he doesn't think the rest of us are bright enough to see it too...

But with such a litany of slipshod questioners, the two that typify the biggest barriers to the opposition Liberals becoming an effective check on the government in defence matters are former MND Bill Graham and current defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh.

Mark C.

Dosanjh is quite simply embarrassing...

Whether or not we're losing the war or winning it, it's clear Mr. Dosanjh is only interested insofar as it gives him a club with which to bludgeon the Tories. He has no understanding of the mission in Afghanistan, nor of the workings of a modern Western military. And he's not particularly interested in learning enough to ask intelligent questions, since he figures as long as he can score his points on tape and camera in the House, he's doing his job as critic. Dosanjh's employment in this role is a travesty, because the only thing he is concerned about is that quintessentially Liberal obsession: politics above all else...

I've come to the conclusion that either Bill Graham simply can't be bothered to prepare for questioning his replacement, or he secretly agrees with him and for obvious reasons can't say it out loud in public. How else can one justify the lame offering of the ex-MND?

This lack of any sort of consensus within the Official Opposition is crippling its ability to do its job: hold the government to account. Time on the floor of the Commons is spent in either half-hearted thrusts at policies developed by the previous government, or spittle-flecked rants at either the minister, the CDS, the conservatives, the Americans, or a combination of all those at once...

Posted by markc at November 15, 2006 12:22 PM