|
President Karzai Meets Gilles Duceppe, Leader of Canada’s Bloc Quebecois Party
|
 On September 23, President Karzai met with Gilles Duceppe, Leader of Canada’s Bloc Quebecois Party, in Montreal, and discussed Canada’s assistance to the Afghan people.
Mr. Duceppe explained his party’s position on Afghanistan and said, “We are in favor of assisting Afghanistan and all Canadians support the country, but they have some questions: How effective is Canada’s military role in Afghanistan? At the same time, to what extent can Canada assist Afghanistan in the development sector?” He went on to add, “We disagree with the vision of the Canadian government towards Afghanistan, but we also oppose the New Democratic Party of Canada, which wants the return of Canadian troops from Afghanistan.” President Karzai explained the reasons why Canada must continue its assistance to Afghanistan, and emphasized that its military and reconstruction contributions are very important to ensuring security in the region and beyond. Both sides agreed that greater attention must be paid to the regional aspects of terrorism in addition to its military and political solutions. On Saturday, the last day of his visit to Canada, President Karzai met with a number of Canadian military officers in Montreal. Several of the officers had served in Afghanistan and a number of them will be going there to fight terrorism. The President expressed his regret at the unfortunate deaths of four Canadian soldiers and emphasized the importance of their mission in Afghanistan. |