Here is the audio of Stephen Harper’s speech from Kandahar, Afghanistan. The Prime Minister addressed the troops giving them a morale boost and thanking them for their service.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper addresses Canadian soldiers in Kandahar Afghanistan (MP3)

Personally, I am proud of what our men and women in uniform are doing in that desperate country and I’m proud of our Prime Minister who is showing his direct support for the Canadian mission which is bringing democracy and human rights to to the troubled citizens of Afghanistan.

Stephen Harper is the first Prime Minister in recent memory who has visited the troops in a warzone. Who was the last PM to do this? (If someone can let me know in the comments, I’ll update this post)

UPDATE: Chretien visited Kabul in 2003 but Harper is the first PM in a long time to visit an active part of the “military theatre” (ie. a location of ongoing military operations) in a long time.

Susan Delacourt remarked this morning in the Toronto Star: “No prime minister in recent memory has spent this much time at ground level or at the front lines of a Canadian military operation.”