From an email.

Enduring Peace: The NDP’s Goal for the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan

I am writing further to your previous correspondence on Canada’s mission in Afghanistan.

Many Canadians have written to me during the last few months in support for the NDP’s position on Afghanistan. This support is greatly appreciated. I firmly believe that we are a nation of facilitators not occupiers, we are a people committed to the ideals of building bridges not burning them and we must not allow that legacy of good work to falter.

A good opposition not only opposes, but proposes. So in that spirit, I want you to know about the NDP’s made-in-Canada plan for Afghanistan. An NDP-led federal government would:

- Give notice that Canada will withdraw from the search-and-kill combat mission in Kandahar.
- Work with NATO partners, the Afghan government, and other affected parties to find a political solution through capacity building and a comprehensive peace process.
- Focus Canada’s role in Afghanistan on humanitarian aid, reconstruction and development, with appropriate security measures.

In contrast to our plan, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has silenced Canada’s independent voice on foreign policy. Following the previous Liberal government’s path, today’s Conservatives have turned their backs on our respected, proven peace-building and peace-keeping traditions by committing Canadian troops to the aggressive search-and-kill combat mission in southern Afghanistan which is fuelling the escalation of violence. From the emails and letters I receive it is clear that everyday Canadians know that:

- This Bush-style combat mission will not create the conditions for long-term security.
- The mission is ill-defined, unbalanced, and without a clear exit strategy.
- For every $1 in humanitarian aid and reconstruction, the Conservative government is spending $9 on military combat in Afghanistan.

The fact of the matter is that the discussion at hand should be about if this mission is the right role for Canada and - not - which Party supports our troops. If you have not done so already, I invite you to sign our on-line petition, Support our troops. Bring ‘em home, which can be found at: http://www.ndp.ca/page/4121.

Again, I appreciate hearing from you on this troubling matter. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to pass along this email.
All the best.

Sincerely,
Jack Layton, MP (Toronto-Danforth)
Leader, Canada’s New Democrats

Here’s the ad for the Dixie Chicks’ movie Shut Up and Sing that NBC refuses to air because it’s critical of Dear Leader.

Saskatchewan has a $12 billion debt, is one of the worst when it comes to healthcare wait times and if some Saskatchewaners are to be believed, the province has some of the worst roads in the country. So why is NDP Premier Lorne Calvert handing out tax cuts like a drunken conservative?

Flush with cash and with an election on the horizon, the Saskatchewan government is lowering its provincial sales tax to five per cent from seven per cent.

In April, Thomson announced a $95-million package of corporate tax cuts that will rise to $240 million in three years.

I’d say this smacks of desperation politics to bolster falling poll numbers in advance of next year’s election, but Calvert is just continuing the work of his predecessor, Roy Romanow, to subvert everything the NDP stands for in his stampede to become more rightwing than the rightwing Saskatchewan Party.

It’s time for Lorne Calvert to go and for the Saskatchewan NDP to return to true NDP values and governance.