A lack of dissent

There wasn't much doubt going in that the NDP's Afghanistan motion would be defeated - and today that's what happened. But it's interesting to note the margin of the vote and what it apparently says about the other two opposition parties:

The House of Commons has overwhelmingly rejected an NDP motion calling for an immediate end to Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan.

Conservative, Liberal and Bloc Québécois MPs joined forces Monday to defeat the motion by a vote of 225 to 28.

New Democrats were alone in calling for an immediate withdrawal of Canadian troops from the counter-insurgency campaign in Kandahar province.

Now, I'm not sure whether the Libs and Bloc whipped their respective parties against the motion. But whether or not each did, there seems to be reason to wonder about how the vote turned out.

Remember how many MPs from the two parties voted against the 2009 extension in the first place: about 2/3 of the Libs and every Bloc MP were against the extension initially. Based on that track record, it would seem a huge shift in position for every single one of those MPs to see the earlier vote as completely precluding any earlier withdrawal.

At the same time, though, there wouldn't figure to have been much risk in a free vote given the likelihood of the motion being defeated (not to mention the lack of immediate consequences if it passed). And the political benefits to the NDP from the vote would presumably have been diluted if anybody from the other parties had preserved any opposition to the mission as it stands.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem likely that there will be much followup. But the vote figures to have said a lot about either the party leaders or the MPs for the Libs and Bloc. And while it'll be a shame if Canadian voters don't find out who's most directly responsible, both parties figure to have plenty to answer for from those who want to see Canada's combat role come to an end.