David Akin: Well done. The PM's talk (I was watching) must have so snoozed me out--repeating almost everything in French and then English, how annoying--so that I missed you at lead off.
Well done indeed--can you provide the text for yourself and the reply, will add as an "Update"?
Mark
Ottawa
To be fair, I did not ask Harper to specifically comment on any developments in Afghanistan but asked about it in the context of election speculation. My question was phrased along the lines, of "We have Canadians dying from ham sandwiches and Canadians dying in Afghanistan and you, Prime Minister, want a federal election because someone won't return your phone call? Please explain." Harper chose not to reference Afghanistan (or ham sandwiches, for that matter) in his answer. Later Harper was asked to specifically identify issues where he felt there was an impasse. Presumably, he could have brought up Afghanistan here but did not. Asked to justify calling an election, Harper certainly could have mentioned Afstan but instead he mentioned only two visions of an economy.
I think it's reasonable to say that journalists asked enough open-ended questions that, had the PM decided to talk about Afstan, he had the opportunity. But no journalist, myself included, focused their questions solely on Afghanistan. In the 25 minutes we had for questions, most questions focused on the possibility of a federal election.
But, just out of curiousity: What sort of question might you pose to the PM had you the chance and what sort of information or response would you hope to elicit?
David Akin: "Mr Harper: Recent violence in Afghanistan, and political turbulence in Pakistan where the Taliban are based, suggest that the conflict with the Taliban will remain very difficult and violent for the foreseeable future. Many more Canadian soldiers are likely to die. What can you say to convince Canadians that our military mission there remains worthwhile and can succeed?"
Mark
Ottawa