Heartbreaking for military who served in Afghanistan to see Taliban in power: Anand
Defence Minister Anita Anand has said it is "heartbreaking" for members of Canada's armed forces who served in Afghanistan to see the Taliban back in power.
But Anand told a special Parliamentary committee on Afghanistan on Monday that Canada's armed forces helped give a generation of Afghans access to school, university and health care.
She said the intervention, which cost 158 Canadian lives, also meant that fewer women and children died in childbirth and women and minority groups enjoyed years of freedoms and rights.
Anand said Canada has no plans to recognize the government of the Taliban, which is listed as a prescribed terrorist group.
The Minister faced questions from MPs on the committee who said humanitarian organizations were facing difficulties delivering aid because of the Taliban's status.
Anand defended Canada's record evacuating Afghans and said the military mobilized swiftly last year to transport 3,700 Afghans and Canadians in Afghanistan to Canada as the Taliban regained control.
"Our Canadian armed forces did everything they could to help as many people as possible for as long as they could," she said.
"The Taliban was advancing very quickly — much more quickly than anyone expected."
Defence chief, Gen. Wayne Eyre, said although some of Canada's evacuation flights were not full, others were packed beyond official capacity to get as many people out as possible.
One captain of a Canadian flight packed his cargo aircraft, designed to carry abound 200, with 535 people.
"The work of people on the ground was nothing short of outstanding," he said.
Anand and Eyre faced questions about why Canada had only evacuated 3,700 people, while the U.K. had managed to get around 11,000 out.
Eyre explained that Canada's armed forces had left the country in 2014 but went back in to make a heroic push to evacuate as many as possible after it became clear Kabul would fall.
Canadian forces arrived in Afghanistan weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack by al-Qaida in the United States and continued in a combat role there until 2011, when they transitioned to training Afghan national security forces.
Eyre said Canada was given only one airport slot to fly people out per day, and was under time pressure as the Taliban advanced toward Kabul.
He said Canada had received 7,500 inquiries from Afghans claiming to have served with Canada's armed forces as interpreters or other staff and the Defence Department validated 3,800 of them.
The committee heard that 900 of these, plus their families, were accepted to come to Canada by the immigration authorities.
NDP MP Jenny Kwan asked what happened to the other 3,100 Afghans whom the Defence Department confirmed as having bona fide links to Canadian Forces in Afghanistan but have not yet been accepted.
She was told the matter was an issue for the immigration department, which might still be processing their applications.
Eyre said he had personally been contacted by Afghans he served with about coming to Canada and "felt the same sort of distress" about their plight.
He said he was careful as head of the armed forces not to give preference to Afghans who contacted him.
He said the military was "inundated" with so many "individual pleas" from Afghans, that some systems became clogged.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May, 9, 2022.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NDP needs to decide whether 4 million Canadians deserve dental care: minister
Procurement Minister and newly appointed Quebec lieutenant Jean-Yves Duclos is warning the NDP that the dental care program it helped put into place will be in jeopardy if it pulls its support from the governing Liberals.
What is the U.S. Electoral College? America's path to the presidency, explained
In less than two months, Americans will go to the polls to choose their next president. But the process that translates those millions of votes into one seat in the Oval Office is much more complicated than a straight tally.
'Imminent catastrophe': Hezbollah hits back with more than 100 rockets across a wider and deeper area of Israel
Hezbollah launched more than 100 rockets early Sunday across a wider and deeper area of northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa, as Israel launched hundreds of strikes on Lebanon. The sides appeared to be spiraling toward all-out war following months of escalating tensions.
Why an Alaska island is using peanut butter and black lights to find a rat that might not exist
On an island of windswept tundra in the Bering Sea, hundreds of miles from mainland Alaska, a resident sitting outside their home saw — well, did they see it? They were pretty sure they saw it.
Coffee could be more than a morning pick-me-up, according to new research
A morning cup of coffee may do more than just perk you up, according to new research.
Building collapse in Naples leaves 2 siblings dead and mother and another woman trapped
A two-story building collapsed in the southern Italian province of Naples early Sunday, killing two young siblings and leaving their mother and an older woman trapped, firefighters said.
Sunken superyacht believed to contain watertight safes with sensitive intelligence data
Specialist divers surveying the wreckage of the US$40 million superyacht that sank off Sicily in August, killing seven people including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, have asked for heightened security to guard the vessel, over concerns that sensitive data locked in its safes may interest foreign governments, multiple sources told CNN.
Childhood sleep issues may raise suicide risk, study finds
If your child sometimes has trouble sleeping, it may be easy to chalk it up to a phase they will grow out of one day. But a new study suggests possible serious consequences for this line of thought — such as a higher risk for suicidal ideation or attempts when they are older.
Republicans in swing states say they see scant signs of groups door-knocking for Trump
Republican activists in swing states say they have seen little sign of the teams tasked with knocking on doors and turning out infrequent voters on behalf of Donald Trump, raising concerns about the party's presidential nominee relying on outside groups for an important part of his campaign operations.
Local Spotlight
Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.
Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.
An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.