Prime Minister Paul Martin in Sea Island, Georgia for the G8

Harper appears to change Iraq war stance

CTV.ca News Staff
June 9, 2004 6:42 PM ET

Stephen Harper appeared to back away from comments that Canadian troops should have participated in the U.S.-led war in Iraq -- something that Paul Martin pounced on.

Last April, Harper said of the war: "We should have been there, shoulder to shoulder with our Allies."

But now he says what he really meant was that Ottawa should have sent a "predeployment" of troops before the war to scare former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"It was about putting pressure on Saddam to comply with UN resolutions and I continue to believe if allies had acted in a concerted measure to put that pressure, we could have avoided a war. But we didn't do that," he said in Barrie, Ontario.

Martin, speaking from the G-8 summit in Sea Island, Georgia, rejected that statement, saying Harper's position on Iraq appears to change every day.

"The fact is he wanted to send troops into Iraq at the time of the coalition," he said. "That was his position."

Martin also said no more Canadian troops would be sent to Iraq. But if a request was made, he's sure Canada would further consider lending its expertise.

"If there was additional expertise needed within NATO, we could make a contribution. But at the present time, we simply don't have the troops available to send out."

Earlier, a Canadian official said Canada might increase its non-military role in Iraq with regard to establishing courts, training police and building schools and hospitals.

Harper said today he wouldn't send any Canadian Forces personnel into Iraq, not even to train Iraqi police.

He also blamed Martin's anti-war stance for the continuing battle over the closed U.S. border to Canadian beef, and the American tariffs on softwood lumber.

"Martin can't get anything done about softwood lumber and BSE when he goes to the summit because he has been against the war in Iraq."

The Liberals and Conservatives are engaged in a tight battle, with the most recent polls showing Harper in the lead. Support for the Conservatives has steadily increased, despite issues of abortion, bilingualism and the death penalty cropping up.

In his strongest statement to date, Harper said today there is no chance an anti-abortion bill would pass under a Tory government.

"I have no intention of supporting abortion legislation, so there's no way that abortion rights are going to be overridden by my government.

"I have no intention of introducing abortion legislation, and I think the chances of any being passed in this Parliament are virtually non-existent."