[R-G] Hecklers shout down minister's pro-Afghan speech

[Anthony Fenton]

Hecklers shout down minister's pro-Afghan speech
Police oust protesters; Bernier touts mission

Mike Blanchfield
The Ottawa Citizen

Thursday, September 20, 2007

MONTREAL - It was a baptism by fire for Canada's new foreign  
minister, Maxime Bernier, with almost a dozen angry protesters  
shouting him down as he tried to sell his government's military  
involvement in Afghanistan.

Mr. Bernier, however, rolled with the chaotic scene that unfolded in  
an upscale downtown hotel at a dinner at which he was the keynote  
speaker, calling the interruptions "an expression of democracy."

The aim of last night's speech was to try to persuade fellow  
Quebecers to stay the course and "finish the job" in Afghanistan,  
even though opposition parties have called for a withdrawal of troops  
between now and February 2009.

Mr. Bernier eventually finished his job -- but not before almost a  
dozen men and women were removed from the dinner after rising  
individually to fire off a series of verbal volleys.

"Canada cannot, without losing all credibility in the international  
arena, simply go back on its word and abandon such a crucial  
mission," Mr. Bernier eventually told the international symposium of  
Afghanistan experts, academics and diplomats.

"I know that you are proud and responsible people, people of your  
word," the cabinet minister from Quebec's Beauce riding said in the  
English text of his first address on the issue that is expected to  
dominate his portfolio. "Quebecers finish the job they have started."

Mr. Bernier said Canada cannot simply abandon the Afghan people to  
their fate and that to do so would jeopardize gains in development  
and security that have been made on the ground.

But it was a message he struggled to get across over the voices of  
almost a dozen university-age hecklers, at least some of whom had  
paid $35 to get into the event. Several had to be forcibly removed by  
Montreal police -- including one man who crossed the ballroom  
unhindered to stand across from the head table and shout at the  
minister.

Outside the hotel, a little more than a dozen demonstrators shouted  
insults at police. At least three men and one woman were handcuffed.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper promoted 44-year-old Mr. Bernier to  
foreign affairs last month in a cabinet shuffle designed in large  
measure to help the government bolster its message about the Afghan  
mission among reluctant Quebecers.

Quebec's Royal 22nd Regiment now forms the backbone of Canada's 2,500  
soldiers stationed in Kandahar, and has suffered three fatalities  
since being deployed there last month.

Fearing a domino effect of NATO countries withdrawing, Afghan  
President Hamid Karzai has implored Canada to keep its soldiers in  
Afghanistan after its February 2009 commitment expires, warning his  
country would be plunged into anarchy if foreign troops leave.