David Akin’s On The Hill

Conservative MP Jeff Watson (left) represents the Windsor-area riding of Essex. Watson is the first auto worker to ever be elected to the House of Commons. He turned to politics after being laid off by Chrysler when it closed down its Pillette Road plant in Windsor. After the meeting of the Conservative caucus today, I asked him today what he thought of the news that Ford will close its Essex engine plant.

Watson:  Well, certainly it's a blow to the morale I think of our community, both between some of the agricultural problems and readjustments that are going on in the auto industry right now it's tough for the region.  It's tough certainly and I know a number of the people who work at the Essex engine plant.  Soplant when Daimler-Chrysler went through its turnaround and so I know that that kind of anxiety.

Akin:   You criticized the Liberals a lot about lack of an auto policy.  What about a public policy response that might help the auto sector?

Watson:  Well, I would say that the Essex engine plant particularly — it produced an engine model for a minivan that wasn't selling particularly well in its segment so I think it's less related to structural problems in the auto industry than to competitive pressures I think within that segment. So, you know, if they had a more diversified product line, perhaps, you know, we wouldn't be looking at the same thing.  But it's a model I think that the company decided it's time to go and, you know, the tough part is that people are laid off, right?  And that's the hard thing but certainly I think that Ford will rebound after taking some drastic measures in the short term.  They'll come back. 

 

In about 30 minutes or so, General  Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff, will confirm that Canada will indeed send a squadron of Leopard tanks, an infantry company from the VanDoos at Valcartier, and some other specialized CF members to Afghanistan. When it’s all done, Canada will boost its deployment in Afghanistan by 200 troops or so to 2,500.

 

As they filed into Room 237-C in the House of Commons Centre Block for their caucus meeting this morning, Conservative MPs and Senators didn't want talk much about the gun registry and other gun-related issues. We asked as many as we could about their reaction to the tearful pleas of Quebec Premier Jean Charest to maintain the gun registry. Most declined to comment but a few paused for the cameras and the microphones. Senator Michael Fortier (left), the political minister for Montreal whose home is in Westmount, had this to say:

“I was very happy to see the Premier spend some time with the student association and the folks at the school, running the school. He was emotional and I think a lot of us in Montreal who have children — I have five kids, my oldest daughter is going to CEGEP next year — I just find this very troubling that schools are being targeted that way. It's happened too often in Montreal. As more and more information is being made available about what motivated this invidividual, if we ever find out what it was — it's very disturbing, very troubling. As parents, we're now having to explain situations to our children that our own parents never really thought they'd ever have to with us. We're all unprepared for this, to be quite frank.”

Also: Senator Fortier promised that he would making an announcement “shortly” about which riding he will run in at the next general election. Shortly after his appointment to the Senate, Fortier promised he would quit the Red Chamber and run for a seat in the House of Commons at the next general election. Fortier said the riding he will run in will be “in the Greater Montreal Area, for sure.”

 

 

A bit of a surprise here — Prime Minister Stephen Harper has just nominated Graham Fraser (left), a national affairs writer with the Toronto Star’s Ottawa bureau, to be the next Commissioner of Official Languages.

I particularly liked this line from the PMO press release: “Graham Fraser … will bring to the position a deep understanding of and sensitivity to Canada’s linguistic duality … as well as the independence of mind of a journalist.” (My emphasis added). Apparently the PMO thinks we’re good for something.

Among other things, Fraser is a former Ottawa Bureau Chief for The Globe and Mail and, last spring, published his latest book, Sorry I Don’t Speak French.

Derek Willis is the research database editor at The Washington Post and, as part of his job, he routinely hunts down data, crunches numbers, and helps turn the results into stories general interest readers can understand.

Willis’ blog today has links to several U.S. newspapers which crunched the data on spending by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security.

the Cincinnati Enquirer, … reports “that Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky’s share of the money approaches $50 million,” the Portland Press-Herald, which found that “the items purchased,­ while likely to be helpful during a terrorist attack,­ are largely being used for more routine purposes,” and the Hartford Courant, which found that “many Connecticut towns won’t spend all they’ve been provided and often had to be pushed just to spend anything.” The Bergen Record, meanwhile, explains why tracking the flow of money can be difficult.

[Links to each back at Derek’ s blog]

Washington lawyer Alykhan Velshi is almost certain to make the Christmas Card list of Lord and Lady Black with this defence of Conrad’s legal troubles:

“The trial by attrition of Conrad Black has exposed the dark underbelly of the legal system, where the government can ruin a man, take his property, his means of livelihood, and make him a social pariah – all without the hassle of securing a conviction. There is an insidious little worm that has crept into the legal system, an iconoclastic mentality that is distorting the rule of law. Focused less on securing justice than on bringing down the high and mighty, all the while pandering to the politics of envy, it affects the entire system of corporate governance.”

And, it seems, the media, in Mr. Velshi’s eyes, has been misbehaving too:

“The media in particular has relished Conrad Black’s downfall. Canadian journalist Peter C. Newman, who has never met a man he would not betray, disclosed the finger-sniffing details of Black’s sex life. Jan Wong, another Canadian journalist and former Chinese Red Guard, threw a wallet with some money and a picture of a crippled boy over the fence of Black’s home in Toronto’s nouveau riche Bridle Path area, and then wrote an article excoriating Black when it was not returned. These journalists, whose stock in trade is demolishing icons, are pandering to their readers’ sense of envy and entitlement. The Black prosecution shows that the legal system is doing the same thing.”

 

James Fallows, writing in the September issue of The Atlantic Monthly, makes a point about the language we, in the West, use to desribe Arabic phenomenon:

“Jim Guirard, a writer and former [U.S.] Senate staffer … has assembled, with the advice of Islamic scholars and think-tank officials, an alternative lexicon he thinks U.s. officials should use in both English and Arabic. These include hirabah (“unholy war”) instead of jihad; irhabists (“terrorists”) instead of jihadists; mufsidoon (“evildoers”) instead of mujahideen; and so on.”

Why?

“The Arabic terms often brought into English to describe Islamic extremists … are, according to Guirard, exactly the terms al-Qaeda would to see used [because] they confer legitimacy … in all Muslims’ eyes.”

Earlier this year, The Senlis Council called Canada’s foray into Afghanistan a “suicide mission”. Today, the Council, which is a security and development policy group based in the U.K., says that the mission in Afghanistan is failing. An excerpt from its press release:

The Taliban frontline now cuts half-way through the country, encompassing all of the southern provinces, including Kandahar where over 2000 Canadian troops are deployed. Senlis Afghanistan reports  that five years after the 2001 US-led invasion, a humanitarian crisis of starvation and poverty has gripped the south of the country and that the US and UK-led failed counter-narcotics and military  policies are responsible. The subsequent rising levels of extreme poverty have created increasing support for the Taliban, who have responded to the needs of the local population.

Taliban’s return to power is a direct consequence of the flawed approach that the US-led international community has taken in Afghanistan since 2001

“When you first came here we were so glad to see you. Now we have lived with you in our country for five years and we see you tell a lot of lies and make a lot of false promises,” says a former Mujaheedin commander from Kandahar quoted in the Report.

The latest report from the Council also references Canada, with a section that seems straight out of the playbook from Jack Layton and the NDP:

Canada faced with pivotal role in Afghanistan

Canada has a vitally important role to play in Afghanistan. The high level of expertise that Canadian troops can contribute is critical to reconstruction in Afghanistan, but should be used in a radically different way to stem the vicious circle of violence in the country. Canadian troops would have more of a positive impact if involved in stabilisation and humanitarian poverty relief.

[Just out on the various newswires, distributed by the Department of National Defence]

CFB GAGETOWN, NEW BRUNSWICK–(CCNMatthews – Sept. 4, 2006) – Warrant Officer Frank Robert Mellish (LEFT), age 38, an 18-year veteran of the Canadian Forces was killed Sunday while deployed to Afghanistan.

Frank was the son of Barry and Sandra Mellish, loving husband of Kendra Mellish, and devoted father of Matthew and Koven. He is greatly missed and our family will never be the same.

Frank had always dreamed of being a soldier and joined the army right after graduating from high school. Throughout his career, Frank was a driven soldier and never one to pass up a challenge or take the easy way out. Frank set an example for everyone he served with and was highly respected by his leaders and subordinates. He served with distinction and great pride in both the Royal Canadian Regiment and the Canadian Airborne Regiment.

Frank loved NASCAR, working with his hands, and anything else that let him spend time with his boys. He spent much of his leave prior to deploying putting the finishing touches on the new family home and teaching his sons how to ride their new dirt bikes.

This was Frank's seventh deployment overseas, and his second to Afghanistan. He was aware of the risks and accepted them as part of getting the job done. Frank would not have wanted to be anywhere other than in Afghanistan serving beside the friends and fellow soldiers that he trained with. We are proud of Frank's service and accomplishments on this and previous missions.

We will sorely miss Frank and ask that Canadians continue to support the soldiers in Afghanistan and their families.

Please respect the family's request for privacy during their time of grief.

Amicicide is a term coined by U.S. Army LCol Charles Shrader for a reference book he wrote chronicling incidents in which U.S. forces killed their own or allies. Shrader’s book is one of the documents that Canadian military officers at CFB Kingston consulted as they prepared a document published last October which is aimed at helping Canadian soldiers from becoming victims in “friendly fire” incidents or firing on their own or allies.

The document is part of a periodical series called Dispatches: Lessons Learned for Soldiers. The October, 2005 issue is simply titled Fratricide.

Whatever you call it — fratricide, amicicide, ‘blue on blue’ or ‘friendly fire’ — it’s back in the news today.

So, for the record, here’s what the Canadian Forces researchers who wrote up Fratricide say in Chapter 11 of that document:

PART 11—WHAT SHOULD I DO IF MY UNIT COMES UNDER FRIENDLY FIRE?

A useful SOP [Standard Operating Procedure] for reaction to friendly fire:

• React to the Contact.  As per your unit SOPs, respond to the contact. Transmit that contact report up to your higher HQ.  It may be the first clue in identifying that you are being engaged by friendly forces.  
• Identify the Source of Fire.  Although some unit SOPs may require the immediate return of fire, you must endeavour to confirm that you are really engaging the enemy.
• Cease Fire and Report. If you realize you have fired upon friendly forces, cease fire immediately and report the incident.  Reporting is critical to ensure no further fratricide incidents take place, particularly within the (by now) confused environment.
• Provide a Visual Signal.  When engaged by friendly forces, a visual signal should be given as an identification aid.  Visual signals must be identified within Orders and would include both a day and a night signal.
• Take Protective Measures.  If under fire, take protective measures.  Moving men and/or vehicles under cover allows for protection and provides an area to conduct any necessary tactical combat casualty care.
• DO NOT RETURN FIRE.  Although the temptation is to fire upon someone firing on you, doing so only reinforces in the other person's mind that you must be the enemy.  Your actions would, in effect, confirm their expectations.