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Eggleton under fire
Liberal Defence Minister Art Eggleton is questioned in the House of Commons for a delay in telling Prime Minister Jean Chrétien about the capture of al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan by Canadian soldiers. These prisoners were turned over to the Americans for detention. Eggleton tells the House that he first heard of the taking of prisoners on a Friday,
but didn't inform Chrétien until the following Tuesday.
(Jim Young/Reuters photo) -
Details change in Eggleton's story
Eggleton admits he'd known for more than a week that Canadian troops in Afghanistan had taken prisoners and handed them over to U.S. forces. -
Eggleton appears before committee
Eggleton appears before a parliamentary committee. He is questioned about contradictory statements he made in the House of Commons about when he first learned that Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan had taken prisoners.
(Jim Young/Reuters photo) -
Eggleton's exit
Eggleton is shuffled out of the defence portfolio. -
Liberals reach transfer deal
In late 2005, the Liberal government of Paul Martin reaches a deal with the Afghan government in Kabul on turning over prisoners to the Afghan security service, known as the NDS. Concerns about the fate of those prisoners emerge within months.
(Chris Wattie/Reuters photo) -
O'Connor becomes defence minister
Conservatives are elected to form a new government. Stephen Harper becomes prime minister and later names retired Canadian Forces brigadier-general Gordon O'Connor as defence minister.
(Reuters photo) -
O'Connor's assurances
NDP defence critic Dawn Black asks for assurances that the detainee transfers reflect "our values as Canadians" and gets them from O'Connor. "We have no intention of redrafting the agreement," O'Connor tells the House of Commons on April 5. "The Red Cross and the Red Crescent are charged with ensuring the prisoners are not abused."
(Reuters photo) -
Colvin arrives in Afghanistan
Richard Colvin, a newly arrived senior Canadian diplomat in Afghanistan, begins to send what he would later describe as a series of urgent warnings about the detainees. -
O'Connor reports to the House
Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor tells the Commons that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) would report to Canada about allegations of abuse of detainees handed over to the Afghan authorities by the Canadian Forces. -
O'Connor apologizes
O'Connor apologizes for telling the House that the Red Cross would share information with Ottawa about alleged abuses of detainees after Canadian troops handed them over to Afghan authorities.
(Patrick Doyle/Reuters photo) -
Torture allegations made
Afghan prisoners publicly claim of being whipped, beaten, starved and frozen after being turned over to Afghan authorities. Colvin would later testify that he had fired off an urgent message to 71 senior officials in Ottawa. The government maintains it's taking all necessary steps. -
MacKay named minister
In a cabinet shuffle, the prime minister names Peter MacKay to replace the embattled O'Connor as defence minister. -
Monitor sent to Kandahar
According to Colvin, Foreign Affairs senior leadership sends a dedicated monitor to Kandahar. "Within weeks he found incontrovertible evidence of continued torture," Colvin would testify in November 2009. The acting military commander in Kandahar immediately halts transfers. They resume shortly into the new year (2008). -
MacKay's response to Colvin memos
Defence Minister Peter MacKay says he never saw any of Colvin's memos. He says the government never received any credible reports of torture, apart from one in October 2007.
(Chris Wattie/Reuters photo) -
Colvin testifies
Colvin testifies before a House of Commons committee. He says that all detainees transferred by Canadians to Afghan prisons were likely tortured by Afghan officials and many of the prisoners were innocent.
(CBC photo)
