A good day for full answer & defense

Federal judge formally quashes security certificate against Adil Charkaoui

MONTREAL — A security certificate against a Montreal man accused by Ottawa of having terrorist ties has officially been declared null and void.

Adil Charkaoui, a married father of three who has steadfastly denied any links to terrorists, said Wednesday he's elated with the judgment.

Federal Court Justice Daniele Tremblay-Lamer wrote that the certificate has been quashed and that Ottawa has no right to appeal.

Tremblay-Lamer said the notion of national security is a question of perspective and that grey zones can exist.

"It's understandable that a disagreement on.... one element of the evidence might lead the ministers to believe the court has given more weight to the rights of an individual over the demands of national security," Tremblay-Lamer wrote.

"However, this belief is not founded."

The case against Charkaoui began to unravel this summer when Ottawa's lawyers withdrew evidence against him, saying disclosing such information would endanger national security.

Government lawyers were seeking permission to appeal the court decision forcing Ottawa to disclose information about the case.

The end result could have widespread implications for the remaining four men the government is seeking to have tossed from the country under the controversial security-certificate legislation.

Charkaoui told The Canadian Press in a telephone interview he has been waiting for six years to officially be a free man again.

"It's a great decision for me, a historical decision and so I'm really happy," Charkaoui said.

"Finally, it's the end of this nightmare."

Tremblay-Lamer removed the remaining conditions against Charkaoui at the end of September, notably one that forced him to wear an ankle bracelet that had enabled the government to track his every move since 2005.

Many of the conditions originally imposed on Charkaoui had already been removed in February, when the judge ruled some of them had become disproportionate given the number of years that had passed since he first faced terrorist allegations.

During a hearing last month, Tremblay-Lamer told lawyers the security certificate would fall as the federal government had failed to meet its burden of proof once the disputed material - gathered through wiretaps - was removed.

Charkaoui is demanding an apology and compensation from the federal government.

Charkaoui is a landed immigrant who was arrested in Montreal in 2003 under security-certificate legislation that allows Canada to expel foreign-born individuals if they are considered a national security risk.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service said as of last month that its information was accurate and that Charkaoui, a school teacher and part-time graduate student, is an al-Qaida sympathizer who should be returned to his native Morocco.

In a recent interview, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said he had concerns about various aspects related to the question of security certificates, including rising legal costs.

"But what I have to do is find a way to ensure that Canadians' safety and security is protected," he said.

Charkaoui was among five men - including four from Ontario - who were facing removal from Canada under the certificates.

Mohamed Harkat, Mahmoud Jaballah, Mohamed Zeki Mahjoub and Hassan Almrei are all fighting to remain in the country.

There have been recent revelations in the Harkat and Almrei cases that CSIS failed to disclose certain evidence that has raised serious questions about those proceedings.

United States Implementation of SMS FAA.

United States Implementation of SMS

The United States has introduced SMS for airports through an advisory circular^[11] and other guidance.^[12]

The United States announced at the 2008 EASA/FAA/TC International Safety Conference that they would be developing regulations to implement SMS for repair stations, air carriers, and manufacturers. The FAA has formed a rulemaking committee to address the implementation. Currently, the FAA is supporting voluntary pilot projects for SMS.^[13

avoid shocking the chest area.

Canadian police adopt new stun-gun directive

Officers told to avoid shocking the chest area

CBC News

A number of Canadian police agencies are changing their policies on stun-gun use in light of a new training bulletin from the manufacturer of the weapon.

Taser International says the guns should not be aimed at a suspect's chest whenever possible. Instead, officers are advised to target the abdomen, legs or back.

"Note, we have lowered the recommended point of aim from centre of mass to lower centre of mass for front shots," the company says in the bulletin on its website.

"When possible, avoiding chest shots with electronic control devices avoids the controversy about whether ECDs [electronic control devices] do or do not affect the human heart," said the bulletin said.

'The RCMP is immediately directing members to, where practical, avoid intentionally targeting the chest, the head and pre-existing injury areas, if known.'—Sgt. Greg Cox, RCMP spokesman in Ottawa

Police forces in Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg say they will be following the new avoid-the-heart directive.

Winnipeg city Coun. Gord Steeves, who heads a committee overseeing the Winnipeg Police Service, says the department will follow Taser International's recommendations for both safety and legal reasons.

"You'd be wise to follow that, firstly of course from a safety perspective, and secondly from a liability perspective. You better work that into your policy, if the company who makes the product is actually saying that," he told CBC News.

But he added this caveat: "There are sometimes struggles. A perfect shot is not always possible in every circumstance."

The RCMP is also implementing the directive.

The force's stun gun policy is already under scrutiny at an inquiry looking into the case of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who died after being shocked by officers with a Taser in the arrivals lounge of Vancouver International Airport two years ago.

"The RCMP is immediately directing members to, where practical, avoid intentionally targeting the chest, the head and pre-existing injury areas, if known," said Sgt. Greg Cox, an RCMP spokesman in Ottawa.

Taser International says the risk of a cardiac arrest in connection with Taser use is low, but if this were to happen after the weapon hits the chest area, it would place police and the company in the "difficult situation of trying to ascertain what role, if any, the Taser ECD could have played in a unique situation that cannot be replicated in human clinical safety evaluations."

Safety Management Systems Implementation.

Safety Management Systems (SMS) is the term used to refer to certain regulatory and enforcement frameworks. These frameworks generally apply to transportation, but have also been explored in other industries. An SMS is the specific application of quality management to safety.

Contents [hide] 1 Description of SMS 2 Regulatory Perspective 2.1 SMS Implications 3 Implementation 3.1 International Adoption of SMS 3.2 Corporate Implementation of SMS 3.3 United States Implementation of SMS 3.4 Indian Implementation of SMS 3.5 European Implementation of SMS 3.6 Canadian Implementation of SMS 3.6.1 Rail 3.6.2 Aviation 3.6.3 Purported Benefits of SMS in Canada 3.6.4 Criticism of SMS in Canada 3.6.4.1 Need for Strong Enforcement Capacity 3.6.4.2 Reliance on Internal Reporting 3.6.4.3 No Risk Assessment Performed Prior to Implementation 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Description of SMS

SMS is a management system used to manage all aspects of safety throughout an organization. It provides a systematic way to identify hazards and control risks while maintaining assurance that these risk controls are effective.^[1] SMS has been defined as:

...a businesslike approach to safety. It is a systematic, explicit and comprehensive process for managing safety risks. As with all management systems, a safety management system provides for goal setting, planning, and measuring performance. A safety management system is woven into the fabric of an organization. It becomes part of the culture, the way people do their jobs.^[2]

Each industry has various reasons for adopting SMS. For example, the global aviation accident rate has remained at a relatively flat rate for nearly 30 years.^[3] If growth projections for air transportation are met, there will be a major aviation accident each week in the future and the industry will suffer increasing numbers of serious accidents in the years to come.^[4] If the existing system is no longer able to improve on passenger safety, then it is logical to develop new systems.

Safety Management Systems drive cross-functional cooperation in anticipation of continuous improvement in safety.

[edit] Regulatory Perspective

[edit] SMS Implications

SMS is intended to support a move away from prescriptive regulations (which specify criteria that must be adhered to) toward performance-based regulations which describe objectives and allow each regulated entity to develop its own system for achieving the objectives. In other words, industry must develop its own policies and systems to reduce risk, which should include implementing systems for reporting and correcting shortcomings. The regulator then changes its emphasis from verifying adherence to the criteria to examining the organizational systems and their effectiveness.

While SMS is an important advance in safety management, it is only as good as its implementation. SMS means that organizations need to ensure they are looking at all the risks within the organization as a single system, rather than having multiple, competing, ‘Safety Management Silos.’^[5] If safety is not seen holistically, it can interfere with the prioritization of improvements or even result in safety issues being missed. For example, in March 2005, BP's Texas City Refinery (BP) exploded, killing and injuring nearly 100 people. The investigation concluded that the company had put too much emphasis on personal safety thus ignoring the safety of their processes.^[6] The antidote to such silo thinking is the proper evaluation of all risks, a key aspect of an effective SMS.^[7]

[edit] Implementation

[edit] International Adoption of SMS

Several international organizations require member nations to adopt SMS. As discussed above, the International Civil Aviation Organization is one such organization. ICAO has recommended that all aviation authorities implement SMS regulatory structures.^[8] ICAO has provided resources to assist with implementation. Canada is one of the countries that has introduced an SMS framework for the aviation industry.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is another organization that has adopted SMS. All international passenger ships and oil tankers, chemical tankers, gas carriers, bulk carriers and cargo craft of 500 gross tons or more are required to have a Safety Management System.^[9] In the preamble to the International Safety Management (ISM) Code, the IMO states, “The cornerstone of good safety management is commitment from the top. In matters of safety and pollution prevention it is the commitment, competence, attitudes and motivation of individuals at all levels that determines the end result.”^[10]

[edit] Corporate Implementation of SMS

Many corporations have adopted SMS to enhance their own operations. For example, the Bristow Group, a helicopter services company, has its own SMS. The process is summarized as “a simple, practical but powerful four-element model based on three processes that feed a fourth.” The three processes are risk management, monitoring, and safety reporting and investigation. These three processes combine to provide the fourth process, integrated insight into operations. Insight is the means bywhich management reviews their operations and ensure they make full use of all predictive, proactive and reactive activities and deliver the right improvement actions.^[5]

[edit] United States Implementation of SMS

The United States has introduced SMS for airports through an advisory circular^[11] and other guidance.^[12]

The United States announced at the 2008 EASA/FAA/TC International Safety Conference that they would be developing regulations to implement SMS for repair stations, air carriers, and manufacturers. The FAA has formed a rulemaking committee to address the implementation. Currently, the FAA is supporting voluntary pilot projects for SMS.^[13]

[edit] Indian Implementation of SMS

The Bangalore International Airport published a safety management system in 2007.^[14]

[edit] European Implementation of SMS

The EU document Guidelines on a Major Accident Prevention Policy and Safety Management System requires an SMS. The Directive is aimed at the prevention of major accidents involving dangerous substances, and the limitation of their consequence.^[15]

[edit] Canadian Implementation of SMS

Since 1999, SMS implementation has been a key priority for Transport Canada, the regulatory and oversight authority for inter-provincial and international rail, marine and aviation transportation safety and security. SMS has been in place for the Canadian rail industry since 2001, while the formal implementation of SMS in aviation began in 2005.

[edit] Rail

Transport Canada’s Rail Safety Directorate incorporated SMS into the rail industry in 2001. The Rail Safety Management System requirements are set out in the Railway Safety Management System Regulations.^[16] The objectives of the Rail Safety Management System Regulations are to ensure that safety is given management time and corporate resources and that it is subject to performance measurement and monitoring on par with corporate financial and production goals.^[17]

The effect of SMS in the rail industry has not been positive as a 2006 study indicated that rail accidents were soaring.^[18] Critics have argued that this evidence should preclude the adoption of SMS in the aviation sector.^[19]

[edit] Aviation

An SMS approach to safety for civil aviation in Canada has been under development since the mid-1990s.^[20] Transport Canada provides some flexibility to industry so that they may tailor the safety management system to meet their unique operating requirements, but expects the company to measure how well the system works. However, the system must still meet the requirements set out in the regulations.

Canadian Aviation Regulations specify that SMS is "a documented process for managing risks that integrates operations and technical systems with the management of financial and human resources to ensure aviation safety or the safety of the public", and should include

• a safety policy on which the system is based
• a process for setting goals for the improvement of aviation safety and for measuring the attainment of those goals
• a process for identifying hazards to aviation safety and for evaluating and managing the associated risks
• a process for ensuring that personnel are trained and competent to perform their duties;
• a process for the internal reporting and analyzing of hazards, incidents and accidents and for taking corrective actions to prevent their recurrence
• a document containing all safety management system processes and a process for making personnel aware of their responsibilities with respect to them
• a process for conducting periodic reviews or audits of the safety management system and reviews or audits for cause of the safety management system
• any additional requirements for the safety management system that are prescribed under these Regulations^[21]

Transport Canada is responsible for the inspection of aviation operations to ensure that they meet safety regulations. Under the new SMS scheme, Transport Canada will conduct audits to determine whether a safety management system is in place and is working. However, critics have noted that

As part of the changes, a federal program to audit airline safety procedures has been cancelled and Transport Canada intends to stop regulating the frequency of inspections. Transport Canada inspectors won't enforce safety regulations for companies with their own safety management systems. They will simply inspect safety reports written by the companies themselves.^[19]

This concern underlines the perceived gap between ICAO's intended use of SMS as an additional layer of safety, and Transport Canada's apparent use of SMS as a replacement of mandated safety inspections. Transport Canada denies that this is the case, however.^[22]

Concerns about Canadian implementation of SMS sparked an Air Safety Round Table discussion on April 21, 2009, held on Parliament Hill. A new website, Safe Skies, aims to provide Canadians with access to the discussions and related documents, and provides a gathering point for concerned citizens.

[edit] Purported Benefits of SMS in Canada

Proponents of SMS argue that SMS not only benefits passengers by way of safer and more secure transit, but industry as well. A successful SMS enables organizations to better comply with regulations and other requirements, minimizing the likelihood of an adverse event. SMS also improves employee and passenger health and safety through early identification of risks and potential hazards. And finally, SMS positively impacts staff by creating trust, increased morale, which all leads to improved performance. Employees involved in their own safety are generally more conscientious, more productive and have less absenteeism.

[edit] Criticism of SMS in Canada

[edit] Need for Strong Enforcement Capacity

Critics of SMS have argued that for it to work, it is critical that regulatory oversight be constant and effective. They argue, however, that there is considerable evidence that in Canada Transport Canada is neglecting these responsibilities, at the cost of human lives.^[23] Hugh Danford, a former bush pilot and Transport Canada Civil Aviation Inspector, testified before the Standing Senate Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities on May 14, 2007:

It appeared to me that management's main concern was to get out of the enforcement business and the liability issues inherent in that responsibility… Of the 20 Canadian crashes, 25% had a root cause of 'lack of regulatory supervision'. This was not our interpretation; this information was quoted from TSB reports... I think the SMS concept is workable, but it can only work if there is a strong enforcement component. I get nervous when reports are mandatory and confidential."^[24]

However, during testimony during the same Standing Senate Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities hearing on May 14, 2007, noted above, Mr. Franz Reinhardt, Transport Canada’s director of policy and regulatory services (now retired), responded to criticisms about enforcement capacity by noting that "People will continue to be subject to safety oversight in the future, even in an SMS context. In fact, inspectors will then be on site to ensure compliance with the rules and standards." In terms of whistleblower protection, the change to a safety culture will offer significant protection to anyone noting shortcomings.

[edit] Reliance on Internal Reporting

In addition to enforcement capacity concerns, there are concerns about the reliance on internal reporting of safety issues and violations. Given that the success of SMS relies on corporate culture, it has been argued that without strong whistleblower protection, it would be impossible to effectively implement SMS. In Canada, unions and whistleblower advocates have argued that proposed new rules would provide little whistleblower protection, leaving aviation industry employees vulnerable if they report shortcomings at the wrong time, to the wrong manager and in the wrong culture.^[25]

Proponents, however, argue that identification of the accountable executive within the regulated company is an important way to encourage the reporting culture that is at the heart of the SMS. This individual acts to promote the cultural change that leads to a safety culture.^[20]

[edit] No Risk Assessment Performed Prior to Implementation

Critics have also noted that while SMS is intended to be a risk assessment tool, Transport Canada conducted no risk analysis prior to implementing SMS in the aviation sector.^[26]

[edit] See also

• Safety
• Civil Aviation
• International Civil Aviation Organization
• Transport Canada

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/saso/library/media/SASO_Briefing_Managers_Toolkit.pdf SASO Outreach, Spring 2009
2. ^ Transport Canada publication TP 13739
3. ^ Francis, Robert T. II. 1997. Aviation accident investigation methods and boundaries. Pp. 15-17 in Aviation Safety, H. Soekkha (ed.). VSP BV. Available through Google Books
4. ^ Wells, Alexander T. and Clarence C. Rodrigues. 2004. Commercial Aviation Safety, 4th edition. McGraw-Hill Books. NY, NY. Available through Google Books
5. ^ ^{a b} http://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Beyond_Safety_Management_Systems Evans, Andy and John Parker. May 2008. Beyond Safety Management Systems. Pp. 12-17 in AeroSafety World.
6. ^ http://sunnyday.mit.edu/Baker-panel-report.pdf Baker Report
7. ^ ibid.
8. ^ [1] Implementation of the State Safety Programme (SSP) in States (13 November 2008)
9. ^ http://www.imo.org/humanelement/mainframe.asp?topic_id=287 International Safety Management (ISM) Code 2002.
10. ^ http://www.admiraltylawguide.com/conven/ismcode1993.html The International Safety Management Code IMO Assembly Resolution A.741(18) – 1993.
11. ^ Advisory Circular 150/5200-37 INTRODUCTION TO SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (SMS) FOR AIRPORT OPERATORS (February 28, 2007)
12. ^ A list of guidance and supporting information can be found on the FAA website.
13. ^ http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/saso/library/media/SMS_Brochure.pdf
14. ^ Bangalore International Airport Safety Management System Manual.
15. ^ http://mahbsrv.jrc.ec.europa.eu/GuidanceDocs-SafetyManagementSystems.html N. Mitchison, S. Porter (Eds). 1998. Guidelines on a Major Accident Prevention Policy and Safety Management System, as Required by Council Directive 96/82/EC (Seveso II)
16. ^ http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/showdoc/cr/SOR-2001-37//20090805/en?page=1
17. ^ http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/railsafety/publications-tp13548-267.htm
18. ^ Freight train accidents soar
19. ^ ^{a b} New rules for aviation safety a flight plan to disaster, critics warn
20. ^ ^{a b} http://www.wingsmagazine.com/content/view/505/67/
21. ^ http://www.tc.gc.ca/civilaviation/RegServ/Affairs/cars/Part1/107.htm
22. ^ Transport Canada FAQ: Requirement for audits remains
23. ^ Peace, Earth and Justice News
24. ^ Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities minutes dated May 14, 2007
25. ^ "Whistling in the Dark", Ottawa Citizen
26. ^ Transport Canada FAQ: No risk analysis required prior to implementation

[edit] External links

• Transport Canada's Aviation SMS Site

public servants not happy with Harper!

Top bureaucrats objected to government ad campaign, sources say

OTTAWA — A partisan government advertising campaign paid for by taxpayers raised alarms from the outset among senior public servants who serve Prime Minister Stephen Harper, The Canadian Press has learned.

The Privy Council Office, the non-partisan bureaucratic arm of the Prime Minister's Office, has never been comfortable administering the website for the Economic Action Plan - and informed Harper of its misgivings at the time of last January's federal budget.

Those misgivings were heard, but overruled.

While the story is being denied by both PCO and PMO, the extraordinary claim originates from several sources within the famously discreet Privy Council Office.

The fact the story is being aired at all - even under the cloak of anonymity - suggests just how far the Conservatives are stretching the traditional boundaries of partisan behaviour in Canada's professional bureaucracy.

For the record, a PCO spokeswoman said there has never been any disagreement.

"At no point did PCO raise any objections to developing the site," Myriam Massabki said in an email.

"Website development is consistent with PCO's role in co-ordinating the implementation of the government's agenda."

Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for the prime minister, said the story was "entirely false."

"The site is legitimate and appropriate and we reject that characterization entirely."

The actionplan.gc.ca website, linked to by a massive advertising campaign that has cost at least $34 million, has been widely criticized as an exercise in Conservative propaganda on the taxpayers' dime.

In interviews with past and present government insiders, The Canadian Press was told the Tories are trampling the admittedly grey area between partisanship and policy.

More than one career bureaucrat said they've never seen anything so blatant as the current use of the office for self-promotion.

None would speak on the record, some for fear of reprisals, but many said it is a story that needs to be told.

"You have a political party that is not constrained by what conventionally would be perceived as overtly partisan actions," said one former insider.

"I can tell you every funding program across the government is being politicized," said another public servant.

"They do it for their own needs and they don't do it to help people. Welcome to Stephen Harper's world."

The Privy Council Office doesn't even have a line item accounting for the cost of development of the economic action plan website. The $2-million budget went to Finance, but PCO developed the website with frequent input from the PMO.

"Expecting public servants to manage government communications that has a partisan spin to it is a misuse of public power," Peter Aucoin, a professor emeritus at Dalhousie University, said in an interview.

There has always been a healthy tension between PCO and PMO. The bureaucrats provide policy advice with political implications, while the PMO provides political direction with policy implications.

Aucoin, a retired professor of public administration who has extensively researched government advertising practices, said governments of all stripes in Canada have nudged their bureaucrats into partisan behaviour.

"But this (current ad campaign) is ratcheted up to a scale beyond, and you can see why the PCO is uncomfortable with it," said Aucoin.

"It's so blatantly obvious. If this isn't partisan advertising then nothing is."

Dropping such a campaign in the lap of PCO is doubly perplexing, because the Privy Council Office is mandated to oversee all government advertising to ensure it conforms with existing rules, including non-partisanship.

Others point to Harper's appointment of an assistant deputy minister, Malcolm Brown, to last summer's intensely partisan Employment Insurance working group as an abuse of the bureaucracy.

The message, said Liberal MP and panel member Mike Savage, was clear for all public servants: You're on the Conservative team.

"I think it set a bad tone for the working group and our interaction with other (public service) officials," said Savage.

"It was a negotiating process. I don't really think it's the duty of the public service to negotiate in that way."

But the Tories reject the characterization.

"The public service of Canada prides itself on being non-partisan," said Soudas.

"And under this government we also pride ourselves on the fact the public service does a good job and does so in a non-partisan way."

Not all observers lay the blame on the Conservatives.

"This government is no worse than previous governments," said Donald Savoie, a professor of public administration at the University of Moncton and a leading author on government organization.

"It's doing what previous governments for the past 25 years have done - and that's to push the public service as far as they could to make it responsive to their political wishes. And that's the problem."

Savoie argues the demands of modern governance, including access-to-information pressures and a 24-hour news cycle, make politicians feel "vulnerable" and increase pressure on the public service to backstop elected officials.

"The public service is not in a position to speak truth to the media on this, because it's not allowed," he said.

"I don't think politicians want to speak truth to this, because it doesn't serve their interests."

That applies equally to Liberal and Conservative governments, in Savoie's opinion.

"Somebody's got to step up to the plate and say, 'Here is the role of the public service in the modern era. Here's what it can do. Here are the lines you don't cross, and so on.' It hasn't been done."

Others said the Harper government, under the direction of his former chief of staff Ian Brodie, was respectful of the traditional public service boundaries in the early years of the Conservative minority.

Kevin Lynch, the powerful former clerk of the Privy Council Office, used his retirement speech at a tribute dinner last month in Ottawa to praise Brodie for his "great understanding of the institutional roles and responsibilities of government and the public service."

He also referred to "the importance of building an effective and respectful working relationship between the new government and the public service."

Some suggest that respect for partisan lines has fallen away since Brodie departed for the private sector in the spring of 2008. Lynch stepped down as PCO clerk in June.

Harper's current chief of staff, Guy Giorno, earned such a reputation for partisan government advertising under former Conservative Ontario premier Mike Harris that the next provincial government brought in strict rules in 2004 to bar the practice.

Harper himself said all the right things when he paid a video tribute to Lynch at his retirement dinner.

"The Canadian public service has the admiration of the entire world," said the prime minister, "for its competence, its professionalism and its non-partisan devotion across our country and its people."

Aucoin contrasted those soothing words with Harper's outburst in the last weeks of the 2006 election campaign, when he warned that a Liberal-dominated judiciary and bureaucracy would thwart Conservative power.

"Stephen Harper came in (to office) saying that we had a Liberal civil service, and he said we would have one for some time - presumably meaning that at a certain point in time we'd have a Conservative civil service," said Aucoin. "That's all on the record."

"It's this perception that the civil service is there to be used."

During a recent address in Ottawa to departmental audit committees - groups made up of former senior civil servants - Aucoin referred to the politicization of the bureaucracy as "a form of political corruption."

Some of his listeners, he said, were shocked by his use of such a term and asked if that's really what he meant to say.

"I said yeah, it's a misuse of political authority," Aucoin recounted.

"It's not illegal, necessarily. But if we're going to talk about values and ethics - and we're not going to make them criminal - then there's got to be a sphere of behaviour that's inappropriate."

Regardless of the blame game, Savoie agrees.

"I think the time really has come for a fundamental look at the public service: The role of a professional, non-partisan public service."

Conservative government intends to keep some Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan beyond 2011 end ... PMO

Troops to stay in Afghanistan after 2011: PMO

Last Updated: Friday, October 9, 2009 | 11:31 PM ET Comments9Recommend3

By James Cudmore CBC News

The Conservative government intends to keep some Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan beyond Parliament's 2011 end-date for the mission, CBC News has learned.

The admission follows weeks of confusion and speculation about a future role for Canadian troops in the war-torn country.

Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office, told CBC News there will be Canadian troops in Afghanistan after parliament's mandate expires, though "exponentially fewer."

"I would caution you against saying dozens or hundreds or a thousand, there will be exponentially fewer," Soudas said.

"Whether there's 20 or 60 or 80 or 100, they will not be conducting combat operations."

Soudas said the government would shift focus from combat operations and in-the-field training of Afghan police and soldiers to a development and reconstruction mission.

The military's training mission will continue, but it will take place in the safety of protected facilities, he said.

The combat-mentoring role currently undertaken by Canadian troops would end, according to the plan.

"You can do training in training facilities," Soudas said. "And when I say training, I mean Canadian soldiers will not be doing combat training of Afghan soldiers in harm's way."

This new position accords with the government's public statements on the future of Canada's engagement in Afghanistan, but only obliquely.

Speaking in Welland, Ont., Friday afternoon, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters the government would not seek to extend the mission authorized by parliament in 2008.

"Well, let me be very clear …" Harper said, "Canada's military mission in Afghanistan will end in 2011."

Views of mission differ

But now it appears the government has two views of what constitutes a "mission," in Afghanistan.

The current mission in Kandahar, which begun at the end of 2006, includes 2,800 troops focused around an infantry battle group.

This, in the government's view, is the military mission.

The new mission will still contain troops, but its focus will be reconstruction. In the government's view, this new mission should be called a development mission — not a military mission — whether or not it contains troops.

Over the past two weeks there has been intense speculation about the future of the mission, initiated in part by the Defence Minister Peter MacKay.

MacKay suggested on three separate occasions over the past two weeks there might be a role for troops in Kandahar post-2011, while at the same time maintaining, "the military mission would end."

Those comments caused a minor furor in the House of Commons with angry opposition questions and blistering government retorts.

NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar on Friday asked the government to be more clear.

"We have one minister, minister MacKay, saying we're going to be there after 2011, there will be a role for the military. We have the prime minister and other ministers — minister [Lawrence] Cannon — getting up and saying, it's all over in 2011.

Dewar was not aware of government's new plan at the time, but he nevertheless demanded it make public its intentions for the military's future role, for the sake of Canada's soldiers.

"What do you say to the men and women? And what do you say to Canadians? And, finally, what do you say to our allies," Dewar asked.

"We should be putting our allies on notice in written form that we are out and the date. If we don't do that, we're not being responsible to our allies, we're not being responsible to the men and women who are serving and we're not being accountable to Canadians. "

Harper said it was always the government's intention to change the makeup of Canada's Afghan deployment as the 2011 deadline approached.

"We set out some timelines there for training and for exit and the government has no intention of asking for an extension of that mission," Harper said.

"By the time we reach 2011, we will have been in Afghanistan longer than we will have been in both world wars combined, so I think it is time to transform that mission towards development and humanitarian efforts."

Harper Chooses Donuts Over Planet video.

Harper Chooses Donuts Over Planet - Tell Him What You Think replied after your comment on their video:



http://www.facebook.com/n/?video/video.php&v=583697030536&comments&mid=1355d64G224f1002G2dd50c6G3b