Angry in the Great White North

General Rick Hillier, Chief of the Defence Staff, has that support:

[Defence Minister Bill Graham], who was in Edmonton for the send off of 110 Canadian soldiers to Afghanistan, was unavailable for comment Wednesday but his spokesperson, Renee Filiatrault, said the minister "absolutely" supports the job Hillier is doing.

What does Carolyn Parrish have to say?

Ms. Parrish fired off a letter to Mr. Graham 10 days ago about her concerns in Afghanistan, and was particularly critical of Canada's new chief of the defence staff, Gen. Rick Hillier, who she said should be "muzzled." Speaking to reporters about the Canadian troop deployment to Kandahar, Gen. Hillier referred to terrorists as "murderers and scumbags" and made clear he believes the job of the Armed Forces is "to be able to kill people."

In the letter to Mr. Graham, Ms. Parrish wrote: "I implore you to muzzle the beast, assume command of Canada's agenda in your usual articulate, dignified and intelligent way. Let the Canadian public know Gen. Hillier does not speak for our government."

Parrish's statements could be taken as a call for Gen. Hillier's orders to be ignored. As the top soldier, his orders are the military translation of government policy. If Minister Graham states that he does not speak for our government, as Parrish is urging him to do, then his orders are illegitimate. For a Member of Parliament to make such an assertion might be considered seditious:

PART II OFFENCES AGAINST PUBLIC ORDER
Sedition

62. (1) Every one who wilfully
(a) interferes with, impairs or influences the loyalty or discipline of a member of a force,
(b) publishes, edits, issues, circulates or distributes a writing that advises, counsels or urges insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny or refusal of duty by a member of a force, or
(c) advises, counsels, urges or in any manner causes insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny or refusal of duty by a member of a force,

is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.

(2) In this section, "member of a force" means a member of
(a) the Canadian Forces; or
(b) the naval, army or air forces of a state other than Canada that are lawfully present in Canada.

Ah well, I can dream, can't I?