Barely a week has gone by before Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is back in the news again – and for all the wrong reasons. Trudeau and his Liberal government have been involved in a litany of mistakes, missteps and messes since they took power in 2015. These include previous allegations of the PM wearing blackface, ethics breaches, questionable spending history – and more. And now a new incident this week can be added to the list. This controversy, more than most, seems particularly egregious.
The Globe and Mail’s blistering story alleged that then-National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan instructed Canada’s Armed Forces to focus on rescuing about 225 Sikhs in Afghanistan during the 2021 fall of Kabul. Three military officials told reporters Robert Fife and Steven Chase that this particular operation ‘took resources away from getting Canadian citizens and Afghans linked to Canada on final evacuation flights out of Kabul’. While the Afghan Sikhs weren’t considered an ‘operational priority for the Canadian military as they had no link to Canada’, Sajjan reportedly relayed them with pertinent details like their location. Where did the minister get this information? According to Fife and Chase, it had been ‘passed to him from a Canadian Sikh group that was in contact with these Afghan Sikhs’.
To say this story was mind-boggling would be an understatement. It’s an enormous black eye on Trudeau’s government, which has already received plenty of shiners to date. Sajjan denied the allegation in a media statement, claiming he ‘did not order’ this rescue mission. Few would have expected the former national defence minister, who was shuffled to the international development ministry in 2021 – he currently serves as minister of emergency preparedness – to say anything different. Yet, he also attempted to deflect attention by saying: ‘I can only surmise that if I did not wear a turban, no one would question whether my actions were appropriate.’
To say this story was mind-boggling would be an understatement.
For the sake of this discussion, let’s focus on the Globe and Mail story. What does it say about Sajjan and his government? To begin with, Sajjan should have known better. A policeman before entering politics, he was also a decorated lieutenant-colonel in the Canadian Army. He served tours of duty in Bosnia as well as Afghanistan on three occasions. Sajjan has been awarded an Order of Military Merit, Meritorious Service Medal and Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal for his contributions to the nation’s safety and security.
What’s the motto of a good soldier? No man left behind. Sajjan would obviously know this – and have taken it to heart during his combat missions. Leaving behind Canadians and Afghan citizens connected to Canada while the Taliban, a vicious terrorist organization, took control of this war-torn country would be wrong and immoral. It also goes without saying that Sajjan was national defence minister not only for his government, but on behalf of all Canadians. If the Globe and Mail story about what happened during Kabul’s fall is accurate, and one group was aided at the expense of others, it goes against the very principle that a government minister is supposed to uphold.
Trudeau and his senior advisers would have to take their share of responsibility and blame, too. Was the PM aware of the rescue mission – and, if so, why wasn’t Sajjan fired on the spot? Were any Liberal ministers or senior advisers apprised of details? Did this play a role in the cabinet shuffle that included Sajjan two months after it supposedly happened? This is in spite of most believing it was due to Sajjan’s misrepresentation of being the ‘architect’ of Operation Medusa in Afghanistan, which led to him apologising to the Canadian Forces, U.S. Armed Forces and Afghan Armed Forces. These questions (and others) have to be answered.
And finally, it’s impossible to ignore the most difficult discussion. Sajjan, Canada’s first Sikh minister of national defence, is alleged to have ordered the rescue of Afghan Sikhs who had no link to Canada with information received from a Canadian Sikh group – while the plight of non-Sikh Canadians and Afghans associated with Canada was ignored. That’s a terrible image for any government to explain, justify, defend or swat away.
Trudeau and the Liberals therefore need to get to the bottom of what happened in Kabul and whether Sajjan ordered this rescue mission. This isn’t something they can sweep under the rug as they’ve done with other matters in the past. The news cycle won’t let go of this controversy without a fight.
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