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<html> <head> <meta name="generator" content="Corel WordPerfect 10"> <meta http-equiv="content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <style> p { margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1px } body { font-family: "Arial", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal } </style> </head> <body> October 19, 2006 OTTAWA, Ontario 2006/21 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE PETER MACKAY, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND MINISTER OF THE ATLANTIC CANADA OPPORTUNITIES AGENCY TO MEMBERS OF THE CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL “WHY WE ARE THERE: CANADIAN LEADERSHIP IN AFGHANISTAN” It is a pleasure for me to be here for this important event today. There is a common understanding that national security is inextricably linked with security abroad. In fact, Afghanistan is currently considered NATO’s [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] most important mission. In the same vein, it is certainly Canada’s most important mission. Today, I want to explain why we are there. I want to talk about Canada’s leadership role in Afghanistan and clearly, it is the military mission that gains the greatest attention for Canadians. No one should be mistaken about the importance that Canada’s military actions and those of the allies are playing in Afghanistan. This is a tough job, and this is why we have tough, dedicated, highly trained professional soldiers there who are getting the job done. Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, however, goes beyond military operations because we know that success in our mission cannot be assured by military means alone. That is why we have deployed Canadian forces, diplomats, development workers, civilian police as well as experts in human rights, good governance and the rule of law and democracy building, all of whom come together in a common endeavour in Afghanistan. It is a formidable and highly trained team. This is a contribution that is sometimes overlooked, that it is a total package, a whole of government approach, because this is what touches at the heart of why we are there in Afghanistan and how the presence and the contribution of Canada and other nations engaged there have a significant impact on the daily lives of the Afghan people. This contribution and impact can be measured in different ways. For example, when Afghan president Hamid Karzai was here and addressed Parliament last month, he said, and I quote, “Thanks to Canada’s contributions, Afghanistan today is profoundly different from the terrified and exhausted country it was five years ago.” President Karzai talked about Afghanistan’s new constitution and first democratic elections in their country’s history. He spoke of the 4.5 million refugees who have come home to Afghanistan and more than 6 million children now going to school, with only now 35% of them being girls, the collection of weapons and disarmament of illegally armed persons that is happening. And he said there were hundreds of examples of how Canada has already made a difference in the lives of millions of Afghans. In his words, “In short, we have in Afghanistan embraced the vision of a prosperous and pluralist society which Canada so richly emboldens and embodies.” Of course, a democratic society is not built overnight. Turning vision into reality takes much hard word and the help of others, but progress is being made and it is being made on many fronts, measured in the transformation of individual lives. I saw this when I was in Afghanistan, in the form of a little girl going to the Ashiana School in Kabul, a school that is sponsored by the Canada Fund. The fund allows young Afghans to go to school and receive vocational and basic school training, like reading, writing, health, hygiene. It is designed to create alternatives for children whose only previous livelihood was found in the dusty and often dangerous streets of the capital. This little girl and millions like her would never have had the opportunity to go to school were it not for the intervention of the international community, including Canada. When I asked her what she wanted to do when she finished school, she looked at me with pride and purpose in her eyes and she enthusiastically told me that she wanted to be a math teacher so that she could teach other little girls to go to school the way she did and have those opportunities. This is the human impact that having Canadians in Afghanistan today is doing for the people, and that is what Canadians should be very proud of. These opportunities would not exist otherwise and are not always measurable, not always tangible or touchable, and often not reported. What is more, Canada is ensuring that young women have the opportunity to go to school, be educated and lead productive lives. What is more purposeful? And to fully participate in society, protecting and ensuring a safe home, a chance at education (free from exploitation or worse), building democracy, pursuing equality—these are such important pillars of our society, why would we not want to share them with the people of Afghanistan? If we do so believe in these things, beyond the mere notion or abstract concept but believe in their application, we must be prepared to back it with action, to fight to achieve, protect and promote these values. Sharing values is buttressed by sharing the means for self-reliance and entrepreneurship. Canada continues to be the lead donor for the national microcredit program, which provides very low interest loans to people trying to escape poverty. For example, through this microcredit assistance, a widow obtained a small loan to buy a store that sells food; an Afghan farmer had to sell his land to feed his family, yet with his loan, he buys a store, repurchases his land and provides work for all his family members; a seamstress uses a loan to buy a few sewing machines, allowing her sons to work with her to make suits for men; a shopkeeper buys a used truck and delivers the merchandise to neighbouring villages. And it goes on and on, real concrete improvements in the lives of ordinary Afghans. These are but a few examples of the 190,000 people who to date have obtained such microcredit loans—nearly 75 percent of whom are women and 99 percent of whom have repaid these loans, with interest. So when we speak of progress being made in Afghanistan and when we speak of the leadership role Canada is playing, this is exactly what we mean. It is the fundamental element of why we are there, but there is another part of that leadership and another fundamental reason why we are there and that is about our own security. We as a government have the indisputable responsibility to protect Canadians from the kind of terror that we saw on September 11th, 2001—an evil act that claimed the lives of 24 Canadian citizens with more than 3,000 people who lost their lives in the Twin Towers in New York City. Lest it be forgotten, the hijackers of those planes trained and plotted in Afghanistan. They came to our shores. Canada and our NATO allies therefore have a fundamental national security interest in ensuring that Afghanistan cannot again become a haven or a source for global terrorists. To this end, Canada—alongside the United Nations, NATO and our other 36 partners—gave its word to help Afghanistan, which our parliament democratically reaffirmed this past May. As a result, Canada, along with others in the community of nations, engaged in Afghanistan. We have pledged to provide the military forces to assist in the stabilization of this country until such time as the national Afghan security forces are capable of doing so independently. The NATO presence in Afghanistan is a key component of this process, and Canada is playing a leading role for NATO in this critical mission. By assuming command of the multinational brigade headquarters in Kandahar in February, Canada paved the way for the transfer of operations to NATO command in the south this summer, and we are not alone in this essential endeavour. More than three dozen countries are contributing to the NATO-led international security assistance force. Fifteen are in the south, including Canada’s historic allies the United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands, and newer partners with whom we are forging close ties, like Romania and Estonia. And just last month, the United Nations Security Council authorized the extension of the ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] mandate for a fifth time. Resolution 1707, adopted unanimously, called on all states to contribute personnel, equipment and resources to support NATO efforts. Let me emphasize: we are not alone in this mission. Canada’s recent contributions are fully in line with this resolution and are in accordance with the international authority it provides for our actions in Afghanistan. Only the presence of the ISAF is at this stage strong enough to protect the respect of the rights now enshrined in the Afghan constitution of women and girls to educate themselves, to earn a living, and to live in security, free from fear and oppression. These are some of the reasons we are there, not all, but there are some who think that it is now time to sit down with the Taliban, to negotiate the future of the Afghan people while we continue the reconstruction effort in parallel, as if by waving a magic wand, that the insurgency would stop, that the Taliban will then profess peace and accommodations, that girls could continue to happily go to school and that those who oppose the Taliban’s oppressive and violent ideology will be allowed to remain, to live in freedom without reprisals. Well, do those who perpetrate this know or even realize the faith to which that naïveté would condemn the Afghans who today stand against the Taliban? Do they think that the insurgents really believe in compromise, in fair play? Are they blind to the unspeakable and inhuman practices of torture and human degradation that was carried out by this Taliban regime? There are those who think that the Canadian Forces should withdraw from southern Afghanistan, where the greatest challenge and dangers do exist. They want to use that magic wand again to make the world stop, but the insurgents will not disappear or voluntarily return to peaceful democratic activity overnight. To suggest otherwise is pure folly. There is no wand and Canada came to Kandahar to confront the insurgents, not to avoid them. We would do a lot better by our soldiers in the field and on the front lines by gauging this situation with realism, not wishful thinking. It does something else. It fuels frustration and demoralization for our proud soldiers and it motivates and it emboldens the Taliban. Nevertheless back to reality, Kandahar and the southern region of Afghanistan is still the most unruly region in that country, and we are using the consultative counsels of NATO to ensure that our allies are aware of the boots on the ground requirements for ISAF troops other than the Canadians in this region. And I can assure you, we will continue to raise our voices to be heard on this important issue. Just last week, I raised it again with NATO secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who incidentally recently compared Canada’s effort in Afghanistan to our own story of liberation of his country, Holland, in the past contest with evil. He agreed with Canada about the need for other allies to step forward, other NATO allies, to come forward and share in the military burden in Afghanistan. We also spoke of the important development assistance work that has to be carried out there, made possible by the presence and resolve of the ISAF troops with Canada leading by example. But my point to him was that we cannot continue to do this without further support. No one country or even a handful of countries can do all that is necessary to provide the kind of security environment needed in the other parts of the mission: reconstruction and development. They have to get established together, hand in hand. Now let me turn to democracy and the essential institutions of Afghanistan’s governance and society, but before I do, I want to reiterate a couple of points that I made recently to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development about the promotion of democracy, development and its role in our foreign policy, in particular where it touches upon democracy in Afghanistan. There is nothing exceptional about our commitment in Afghanistan. Throughout our history, Canadians have stood up to oppose ideologies that go against everyone’s right to handle their own affairs. We have confronted threats to freedom and world stability. Our own lives depend on it. Our own values demand it. The policies put in place by this government on freedom, democracy, the primacy of law and human rights are a reflection of our basic principles, an ingredient in the success we have known as a nation. This principles will act as a guide in responding to several threats and challenges in today’s world. In short, we commit ourselves to the promotion of democracy, not because our values demand it, not only because the promotion of democracy is a fundamental part of our efforts to build a more peaceful and secure and prosperous society in which we can all partake, but fundamentally also because the spread of democracy contributes directly to the security of Canadians. The fact that the terrorists despise democracy and will go to great lengths to destroy it should tell us something. It is that democracy, it is key. It is the key to unshackling people and to have them bestowed with the power to change their government and their country. Democracies empower those who are most directly affected by poverty, by instability and conflict. They empower all citizens within their own political system to focus attention on problems, propose solutions, take responsibility for their own faith by providing avenues for peaceful change, and they reduce the appeal for more violent alternatives. With respect to Afghanistan, the Bonn Agreement of 2001 outlined a series of benchmarks on establishment of essential institutions of Afghan governance in society. With those benchmarks and others set more recently in London, we can see more clearly the progress that is being made in the country: a constitution has been drafted, nationwide elections—presidential, parliamentary and provincial—have been held in which millions of Afghans participated; these elections were remarkable, both in the number of Afghans and the number of women who participated—and, in their extraordinary support, provided themselves with the ability to interact again with the international community. Over 26,000 polling stations were built in over 8,000 locations across the country. Those were staffed by 160,000 Afghans who helped 12 millions Afghans who registered to vote so they could exercise their basic right to choose who would lead them. Well over 6,000 candidates, including 582 women, ran in the 2005 elections and more than 25 percent of the seats in parliament were filled by women. This is in a country where only a few short years ago, the Taliban executed women for having the audacity to complain about their lot in life. Twenty-five percent is more than we have in the Canadian Parliament today. Through these elections, the Afghan people overwhelmingly chose to chart a new path for their country and Canada helped them to do so. We did so with our military presence, emphasizing a safe environment in which Afghans could exercise that right to vote. We did so through supporting the 2004 presidential election as well as the 2005 parliamentary and provincial elections and through contributing more than $33 million to assist the democratic process. Indeed, Canadians sat on the joint electoral management board overseeing the entire electoral process, but as I have said earlier, it is more than about a military presence alone and it is more than about just holding elections, as important as they undoubtedly are. The Bonn Agreement also set out plans toward building other critical national institutions of governance. Afghanistan has since established a central bank, a single currency. The government has begun building and strengthening its own ministries. A central national budget has been created. The Afghan independent human rights commission has been established, a development that was unthinkable under the Taliban. All of this has been accomplished with the help of Canadians, including dozens who are members of this department, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Canadian diplomats participate daily in several joint Afghan international working groups to build the operations of the government in Kabul. I should emphasize as well the number of non-governmental organizations who continue to work inside the country and would do more given the opportunity in a stable environment. Afghan national security forces, police and military have also been formed with the involvement and the training and the participation of Canada and our NATO allies. Schools being opened, roads built, wells dug, clinics established—tangible touchable evidence of progress inside the country. Just last week, my colleague, [International Cooperation] Minister Josée Verner, announced over $18 million to help Afghanistan rebuild needed infrastructure and to provide access to health care, clean water, sanitation, irrigation, and education—basic services needed and trusted by people. Canada also funds the national solidarity program, through which more than 12,000 villages—that is, half of all Afghan villages—and approximately 150,000 families have a say in the construction of schools, clinics, roads, irrigation canals and wells in their own communities. So the funds are funnelled through the World Bank-administered National Reconstruction Trust Fund. That is to ensure that the money goes where it should, to the people, to see that it is doing the important work for which it is intended. The National Solidarity Program has the double advantage of helping Afghans elect village councils, which further involves people in their own destiny. These councils, comprising both men and women, get directly involved in improving the delivery of health services and education of their own children. We have also contributed $5 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in Kandahar. The GPEI aims at immunizing over 7 million Afghan children. A further $12 million is going to the microfinance investment support facility in Afghanistan, which, as I described earlier, is having a very successful role in getting consumer and microbusiness loans to low-income people and most importantly, to women. This is exactly what we mean when we talk about an integrated Canadian effort to support Afghanistan’s recovery, and this is what we mean when we talk about real progress that is there. But clearly there is much more to do and clearly there is still a way to go before the Government of Afghanistan will be able to develop the capacity to manage national budgets, implement a national administration and legislative system and establish a sustainable public service culture. The Afghan people still need the help of Canada and others. We cannot simply hand this off to them to go it alone, not at this point. Our challenge now—and it is a challenge, shared by the international community—is to help the Afghan government achieve security in the southern region and to deliver basic services for the Afghan people who live in the south. Indeed, this recognition underpins the Afghanistan compact signed by President Karzai and the UN Secretary General earlier this year and agreed to by over 60 countries, including Canada. The compact contains 40 specific measurable objectives to guide Afghanistan and the international efforts over the course of the next five years. These include, for example, strengthening the Afghan national army, the Afghan national police and the Afghan border police so they can meet their own security requirements; enacting legislation against corruption by the end of 2007; and increasing by 20 percent the number of jobs held by women by the end of 2010. As you can see, the work in Afghanistan is complex, multifaceted, multifunctioning and challenging; but Canada, again for emphasis, is not there alone. Prime Minister Stephen Harper pointed out in his UN general assembly speech last month that Canada’s mission in Afghanistan is part of an international effort, sanctioned by the Security Council of the United Nations. Sixteen UN agencies are on the ground and there are UN offices across the country, from Kabul to Kandahar. More recently, the UN expanded its network of regional offices, including in the south, all with a view to ensuring that those Afghans most in need receive the support that they deserve. The Prime Minister further underlined that we in Canada will do our part in Afghanistan, and we expect others to do their part as well. Let me conclude with one further observation. The international community’s efforts in Afghanistan reflect the interconnected nature of Afghanistan’s challenge. Sustainable progress there means pursuing security, governance and development simultaneously. That is why the provincial reconstruction teams have been created, 23 in all, inside the country. The PRTs integrate diplomats, development experts, policy experts, military assets to address the causes of instability: poverty, poor governance, weak institutions, corruption, insurgency and regional warlords. Canada leads the PRT in Kandahar. It is a multidepartmental effort with personnel from National Defence, Foreign Affairs, CIDA [Canadian International Development Agency] of course, the RCMP and other Canadian municipal police forces. This is why the new reality of peace support operations is not a simple one, and it is not simply separating combatants who have agreed to a ceasefire. Instead, we are helping to build a country, to foster economic growth and strengthen local governance while at the same time confronting stubborn insurgent forces and extending security over the entire country. In fact, this is why and this is the type of integrated approach that is needed in order to meet the security challenges that exist in the 21st century. What Canada does in Afghanistan truly matters and it matters to Canadians. It matters as part of our efforts against global terrorism. It matters in the UN, in NATO and to other partners inside Afghanistan. This is a multilateral effort and most importantly, it matters very much to the lives of the people of Afghanistan. The Afghan people recognize, appreciate and commend Canada for its contributions to rebuilding their country. Of this, I have no doubt; I have heard it time and time again when I have met with Afghans, whether leaders, high-level officials or ordinary citizens. They have always gone out of their way to thank Canadians for all that we have done and all we continue to do to help them in their cause—and their cause is our cause; it is the cause of humanity. They have also taken the time to express their heartfelt sympathies for our considerable, considerable sacrifices on their behalf. We are part of a global struggle against terrorism and we have an important role to play. I believe that there is a lasting peace on the other side of this global conflict. More than hear about it and more than talk about it, having been to Afghanistan, I saw it and I see it in the eyes of children, young girls, women, who are starting to find a life of dignity. I see it in their determination, the courage and the skill of our soldiers who are serving in that country, providing security and opening doors to a new life of peace and of hope for these young Afghans. And I see it in the rebuilding of schools, in the flourishing of elected village councils who are the seabed of democracy, in the first bold steps of freedom by the Afghan people, and I see it in the eyes of that little girl, in Ashiana, in that school. And I know that that is why we are there. Thank you. </body> </html>

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Last Updated: 2006-10-30	Top of Page	Important Notices