Afghanistan committee must zero-in on Canada’s refugee efforts, veterans say

Canadian veterans say a new committee forming to probe the government's response to the fall of Afghanistan must prioritize the ongoing refugee crisis — as thousands remain behind.

He welcomes the probe into Canada’s response to the fall of Afghanistan, but retired Canadian Maj.-Gen. David Fraser is feeling frustrated.

While a special new committee of MPs prepares to put the spotlight on the government’s handling of the crisis, thousands of Afghans who helped Canada’s military during the 20-year-long War on Terror remain living under the Taliban flag.

Afghans are running out of hope, Fraser said, and he wants the committee to push the government to move faster on fulfilling its promise to bring 40,000 Afghans to Canada.

“I’m happy that it’s going to be looked into because Canadians need to understand the magnitude of the challenge and of the humanitarian crisis that we are facing,” said Fraser, a former commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan.

“This is far from over, and yet at the same time, the situation is becoming absolutely critical. We need to know what the government is going to do about ameliorating this situation. This committee is an audit to find out that information and inform Canadians.”

On Wednesday in the House of Commons, a Conservative motion asking for a committee to be created to investigate Canada’s handling of the Afghanistan crisis passed with support from the NDP and Bloc Quebecois. Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith also voted in favour of the motion, while the remainder of governing party members voted against it.

The new committee, which will be made up of six Liberals, four Conservatives, one Bloc MP and one New Democrat, will be tasked with studying “the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, including, but not limited to, the government’s contingency planning for that event and the subsequent efforts to evacuate” a range of individuals.

Furthermore, the committee will also be “assessing the humanitarian assistance to be put in place by Canada to assist the Afghan people.” It meets for the first time on Dec. 17 to elect a chair and begin organizing its agenda.