Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier has backed away from comments he made that appeared to call on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to fire the governor of Kandahar.
Mr. Bernier made the original comments while speaking to reporters in Kandahar on Monday.
“He [Mr. Karzai] can work with us to be sure that the governor will be more powerful, [that] the governor will do what he has to do to help us. And there's a question of maybe having a new governor,” Mr. Bernier said.
“It's a decision the president will have to take in the near future about the future of the governor that we have here. Is it the right person in the right place at the right time? President Karzai will have to answer these questions as soon as possible.”
Foreign Affairs has since issued a statement to clarify Canada's position on the government of Afghanistan and Afghan governors.
“Afghanistan is a sovereign state that makes its own decisions about government appointments. I can assure you that Canada fully respects this and is not calling for any changes to the Afghan government,” the statement reads.
“In fact, our primary goal is promoting the self-sufficiency of Afghanistan in all aspects of nationhood, including development, security and governance. We will continue working closely with all levels of the Afghan government to advance this objective.”
The current governor is Asadullah Khalid, who is alleged to have been personally involved in torture and abuse of detainees in secret prisons.
Mr. Bernier's comments were a hot topic during Question Period Monday, with opposition members accusing the Conservatives of being contradicting themselves on their views of Mr. Khalid.
“A few weeks ago the Minister of National Defence said the government was not going to interfere in the internal affairs of Kandahar,” Liberal MP Bob Rae said. “A few days ago General Hillier was praising the governor and said he was doing phenomenal work. [Sunday] the Minister of Foreign Affairs contradicted that statement and said it was the government's view that the governor of Kandahar should be removed.
“I'd like to ask somebody over there to clear up this confusion. What do you really think of the governor of Kandahar?”
House Leader Peter Van Loan the question the same way each time it was asked.
“The affairs of the Afghan government are the affairs of the Afghan government,” Mr. Van Loan said. “It's a sovereign country. They are responsible for their own nominations and appointments. We don't make those decisions for them.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended Mr. Bernier, saying it was a misunderstanding that wouldn't have an impact on Canadian military operations in Afghanistan.
“Minister Bernier very quickly corrected the misimpression that had been left from some earlier comments," Mr. Harper told reporters in Winnipeg. "We have talked to the government of Afghanistan from time to time about concerns on the performance of that government and we will continue to talk to them from time to time.”
With files from Jennifer MacMillan
