Members of Parliament in Northern Ontario are reacting after General Rick Hillier criticized MPs who were absent for Monday's vote to extend and expand Canada's military mission against the Islamic State, commonly referred to as ISIS or ISIL.
Hillier, who previously headed up the Canadian Forces as chief of defence staff, wrote a passionate message on his personal Facebook account which said:
“Some of those who are elected to political office, in our Parliament, as our leaders should be ashamed today. 37 of them could not find it a high enough priority to be in the House of Commons when Parliament voted to extend and expand the mission against ISIL. They could not prioritize their lives and schedules sufficiently to be there when that most sacred trust - sending Canada's sons and daughters in harms way, to do violent things on our behalf - was decided. Shame on you.”
He continued by asking each member who wasn’t present for the vote on the motion to explain why they could not be in the House of Commons for that vote and finished his posting with, “It pisses me off!”
Northern Ontario MPs Carol Hughes (NDP) and Greg Rickford (Conservative) were among those absent for the vote.
Greg Rickford, who represents Kenora, was unavailable for comment and a staff member who was contacted said he was in British Columbia, but was not aware of the reason he was absent for the vote.
Hughes, who represents the riding of Algoma — Manitoulin — Kapuskasing, was unavailable to vote due to parliamentary business, attending a committee meeting in Whitehorse.
Hughes said the meeting was scheduled before the vote and the cost to taxpayers would have been enormous to cancel it.
“Certainly, the government didn’t put forth a jet for us to get back,” said Hughes.
“Obviously Mr. Hillier doesn’t understand work goes on,” she added.
Her vote against the expansion of the mission would not have affected the outcome, as the motion passed easily with support from the majority Conservative government.
Hillier's comments were not directed at those who voted for or against the motion, only those who were absent for the vote.
In all, 21 Conservative, five Liberal and five NDP members did not vote on the motion.
Other absences were accounted for by independent MPs, as well as three seats being vacant and the Speaker of the House's inability to cast a vote.
Only the Green Party and Bloc, each with two members, had perfect attendance for the vote.
Bryan Hayes, member of parliament for the riding of Sault Ste. Marie, voted to extend the mission, along the lines of his Conservative party.
“I believe the majority of Canadians whole-heartedly support what our government are doing and we have the utmost faith in our armed forces,” said Hayes by phone Tuesday.
Charlie Angus, who represents the riding of Timmins—James Bay, voted to not support the extension and expansion of the mission.
“I have total confidence and respect in their professionalism of the soldiers we are sending, but as a nation we don’t have a clue what we are getting into,” said Angus.
He recognized soldiers from Northern Ontario don’t shirk their duty, but questioned if there was a plan for an endgame for the mission.
“It doesn’t matter how well-trained you are, it doesn’t matter how professional you are, If you’re going into such a lawless region with such a lack of clarity as to who we will be benefitting at the end of the day in Syria then the Canadian people need to ask what is the plan?” he said.
Bruce Hyer, Green Party MP for Thunder Bay- Superior North, voted against the motion, while Jay Aspin, Conservative MP for Nipissing — Timiskaming, voted in favour of it.
Angus said he looked into the absences from his own party and said all of them were justifiable.
“They were either on parliamentary committee work where they couldn’t be back on time or there were issues of illness,” he said.
Hayes said he believed every MP who was absent for the vote had a justifiable reason to be away.
Angus, however, recalls a previous motion to extend the Kandahar mission in Afghanistan where he said one member of another party skipped the vote to attend a fundraiser.
“I was appalled.”
(FILE PHOTO: MP Greg Rickford speaks on Queen Street in Sault Ste. Marie. Darren Taylor/SooToday)
