People wave at American soldiers at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, on Aug. 22, 2021.JIM HUYLEBROEK/The New York Times
Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole and the Bloc Québécois said Thursday that they want parliamentary hearings into a Globe and Mail report that then-defence minister Harjit Sajjan directed the Canadian military to mount a rescue operation for Afghan Sikhs after the fall of Kabul in 2021, an action the senior cabinet minister said was government policy.
Facing questions at an unrelated news conference in Vancouver, Mr. Sajjan, now Emergency Preparedness Minister, defended his role in instructing Canadian special forces to rescue about 225 Afghan Sikhs. Three military sources told The Globe that the operation took resources away from getting Canadian citizens and Afghans linked to Canada on final evacuation flights out of Kabul.
“There was an approved government policy to safely evacuate as many vulnerable Afghans as possible, which included Canadians obviously first, and those who were with us, our [military] interpreters,” Mr. Sajjan said. “It also included vulnerable Afghans – which included religious minorities like Afghan Sikhs and Hindus.”
He also made clear that the role of the military is to follow government directives: “The military is under civilian command, under a minister of national defence, and the job of the minister of national defence is to execute the government policies of the day.”
The Globe reported Thursday that Afghan Sikhs were not considered an operational priority for the Canadian military as they had no link to Canada. The military sources, who were in Ottawa and on the ground in Kabul at the time, say Mr. Sajjan’s directive impacted the rescue of Canadians and other Afghans on Canada’s priority list. The Globe is not identifying the sources because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
Mr. O’Toole, who was Conservative leader in 2021 during the fall of Kabul, said House of Commons hearings should examine why Afghan Sikhs were given priority over Canadian citizens, permanent residents and Afghans who risked their lives serving Canada’s army during the 12-year mission in Afghanistan. The rescue operation took place in the early weeks of the 2021 federal election campaign.
“There should be a Commons committee inquiry on this,” Mr. O’Toole said. “The government has a lot to answer for this because it is clear there were other politics and priorities at work.”
He acknowledged that the Taliban’s swift capture of Afghanistan in late August after the U.S. decision to withdraw from the central-Asian country created a massive refugee crisis. The chaos and danger that unfolded presented a difficult challenge to Canada and other Western countries trying to evacuate their nationals and Afghans who worked alongside them.
But Mr. O’Toole, a former Canadian forces officer, said it was disturbing to learn that the Liberal government was prioritizing people who were not connected to Canada’s Afghan mission. “There were interpreters living in fear for their lives because they helped us so it is un-Canadian to leave those people behind.”
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The Bloc Québécois said Thursday that it would propose a motion when the House resumes sitting this fall to hold hearings on Mr. Sajjan’s actions during the Afghan evacuation.
Bloc defence critic Christine Normandin said that the party considers what was reported to be “very problematic” and requires examination.
A spokesman for Official Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said the Conservatives would consider backing a proposal for hearings.
“If a motion to study this matter is brought before committee, we will give it appropriate and due consideration,” Sebastian Skamski, director of media relations, said in an e-mailed statement.
The Globe reported Thursday that Mr. Sajjan not only directed Canadian forces to rescue Afghan Sikhs but relayed location information and other details about them to the military as special operation forces worked to meet up with the group. The information was passed to him from a Canadian Sikh group that was in contact with these Afghan Sikhs.
“I am concerned that they were not honest and transparent about it,” Mr. O’Toole said. “Anyone at risk because they helped us during the 12-year mission, that should have been priority one and if we can do anyone else, great.”
Mr. Sajjan’s office told The Globe late Thursday that he also told the Department of National Defence about other vulnerable groups that “included women leaders, human-rights defenders, journalists, persecuted religious minorities (including Sikhs and Hindus), 2SLGBTQI+ individuals and more.”
David Lavery, a former elite Canadian special forces soldier who was on the ground in Kabul at the time as part of the Veterans Transition Network, said Mr. Sajjan’s intervention affected evacuation efforts. The veterans group was struggling to get as many former military translators and fixers to Canada as they were considered top priorities, right behind Canadian citizens.
“I can guarantee we left people behind because of that,” he said. “We probably left from 500 to 1,000 people easy. Probably more than that. There are still hundreds we are trying to get out.”
After evacuation flights ended on August 27, 2021, the Canadian government told reporters that roughly 1,250 Canadian citizens, permanent residents or family members remained in Afghanistan, trying to stay hidden as diplomats negotiated with the Taliban for their safe exit from the country.
Farouq Samim, a member of Ottawa-based Operation Abraham, which helped to get Afghan interpreters, fixers and embassy guards out of the country, said he was frustrated that so many Afghans who served Canada weren’t able to get travel documents to board evacuation flights.
“If those Sikh minorities were related to the work of Canadians in uniform and civilian missions, fine. But if they were not related, they should not have been prioritized over those who served our military in Afghanistan.”
Even today, Mr. Samim said hundreds of Afghan interpreters and their families remain in Afghanistan or neighbouring Pakistan and Iran waiting for Canada to give them documents.
The World Sikh Organization on Thursday came to the defence of Mr. Sajjan, whose father served on the WSO board.
“Evacuating vulnerable groups like Afghan Sikhs and Hindus was a humanitarian duty that any Canadian minister should have undertaken,” WSO President Danish Singh said in a statement. “The suggestion that minister Harjit Sajjan acted on this issue because he is a Sikh is deeply troubling and reflects a disturbing bias.”
Mr. Singh said Afghan Sikhs had faced a history of attacks under Taliban rule and the WSO had pressed to get them out when Taliban regained control of the country.
But the WSO leader said he did not believe Mr. Sajjan “prioritized Sikh interests over Canadian interests,” saying the suggestion is “dangerously divisive.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, whose party has a confidence and supply agreement with the Liberal minority government to support it on crucial votes, said Ottawa had failed to respond adequately to the refugee crisis in Afghanistan but added that no one was safe as the Taliban took control.
With a report from Mike Hager