From the Canadian Press, Oct. 27:

MONTREAL – Umbrellas outnumbered placards as hundreds of rain-soaked demonstrators hit the streets of Montreal on Saturday to denounce Canada's military mission in Afghanistan.

Close to 300 protesters waving signs scrawled with messages such as "Canada out! Stop killing civilians!" and "War isn't a solution" marched through the downtown core...

Montreal's 10-kilometre march, which unfolded below a relentless downpour, was one of 23 scheduled Saturday in Canadian cities.

The nationwide demonstrations were also geared to coincide with 11 anti-war protests planned in the U.S...

Matt Jones, a member of the anti-war group that organized the protest, said all foreign troops should pull out of Afghanistan.

"We don't see any evidence of progress in Afghanistan," said Jones, who pointed to women's rights as an example.

"We see that women are still afraid to go to school, to participate in social life."

Meanwhile, Radio-Canada reported some 200 demonstrators called for an end to the mission outside Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office in Ottawa.

The Conservative government is under public and political pressure to bring Canadian troops home when the current mandate expires in February 2009. Some are calling for an immediate withdrawal.

But Harper's throne speech indicates the government wants Canada to maintain its direct involvement in the Asian country until 2011.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay said the very fact the demonstrations could take place Saturday indicated why Canada should be taking part in the Afghan mission.

"This is exactly the type of freedom and expression that we enjoy in this country, that we're able to demonstrate, that we are hoping to establish in a place like Afghanistan," MacKay said in a telephone interview from New Glasgow, N.S.

The minister said the presence of Canadian troops creates security, which is directly related to promoting democracy, including freedom of expression.

"I implore people who are out in the streets and who are expressing themselves to keep in mind that were we to follow that direction (to withdraw the troops), Canada, in my view, would be stepping away from the very rights they hope to demonstrate."

See our last posts on Canada and Afghanistan.