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UNCLAS OTTAWA 000280 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL MOPS PGOV AF CA
SUBJECT: LIBERALS CLARIFY AFGHANISTAN NO TRIGGER FOR 
ELECTIONS 
 
REF: A. OTTAWA 270 
 
     ¶B. OTTAWA 257 
 
¶1.  (U)  In remarks to reporters in Winnipeg on February 22, 
Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion explicitly stated that his 
party "prefers" that the future mission of Canadian Forces in 
Afghanistan not be the trigger for a federal election.  He 
indicated that the Liberals welcome the debate on the 
government's revised motion (ref a), which will begin on 
February 25, and noted that this was "inevitable" in a 
democracy.  He underscored that Canada was, after all, 
fighting on behalf of Afghanistan's right to be a similar 
democracy.  Dion commented on the "great progress" by the 
government's "move toward our position" with the new motion, 
although he said the Liberals would question why the 
government had moved the Liberals' original end date of 
February 2011 (with completion by July) to July 2011 (with 
completion by December).  He emphasized that the Liberals, as 
well as "99.999 percent of all Canadians" fully support 
Canadian troops.  In response to a final question about 
Liberal hopes for an eventual federal election, he noted that 
the Liberals will "choose our time, and then be ready." 
 
¶2.  (U)  Separately, Chief of Defence Staff General Rick 
Hiller, at a Conference of Defence Associations Institute 
seminar on February 22 in Ottawa, called on Canadian 
politicians of all stripes to convey their "clarity of 
purpose...and overwhelming support" to Canadian troops in 
Afghanistan.  He argued that parliamentarians should 
recognize that often the best way for members of the Canadian 
Forces to defend themselves is by engaging in "pro-active 
operations" against enemy combatants.  He commented that 
failure to do so would serve as a signal to the Taliban that 
they could shape Canada's political decisions by targeting 
Canadian forces in Kandahar, adding that he could not rule 
out that the Taliban had decided to step up the pace of 
recent attacks with an eye on this ongoing debate. 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Comment:  If there have been any lingering doubts 
in recent weeks that the Liberals intend to let the 
government survive for the time being and that the two major 
parties have reached a workable consensus on Afghanistan that 
will enable the continued deployment of Canadian Forces in 
Kandahar until sometime in 2011, Dion has now clearly laid 
these to rest.  He failed even to cite the usual litany of 
minimal requirements for an extension beyond February 2009 -- 
1,000 more troops from NATO partners and sufficient 
helicopters and UAVs. 
 
Visit Canada,s Economy and Environment Forum at 
http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/can ada 
 
WILKINS