Inside Politics

Colvin vs. Gauthier: the latest round

by Janyce McGregor Posted: December 16, 2009 1:00 PM Last Updated: December 16, 2009 1:18 PM

Our Kady isn't the only one who's had a chance to read Colvin's new supplementary evidence to the Afghanistan committee. Lieutenant-General (Ret'd) Michel Gauthier has given it a good going-over as well.

Here's the relevant parts of a statement he provided to the CBC today:

"I do not see any substantive new information in this document...

"I stand by everything I said to the committee on November 25th and encourage you to read it closely in relation to Mr. Colvin's original testimony and his most recent statement.

"I should note that in at least three different places in his latest statement, Mr. Colvin attributes blame to the Canadian Forces for matters that are clearly outside the military lane. Canadian comments concerning Governor Khalid's status are clearly the purview of DFAIT and the Government of Canada. Legal and other considerations that guided the process for passage of information to the ICRC were also the purview of and led by DFAIT. And the "architects" of the December 2005 policy were quite clearly the accountable cabinet ministers of the day, together with their legal and human rights advisors, and not "the generals" or any other member of the Canadian Forces, as Mr. Colvin would have the Canadian public believe.

"I very much look forward to providing a more detailed perspective to the Military Police Complaints Commission where all of the information presented can be objectively tested."