“The reality is that when we talk about Canada’s new approach to fighting IS – Canada is backing away”, she said.
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The number of Canadian military personnel in the region will increase to 830 people – up from the current 650 – to provide planning, targeting and intelligence expertise. A source with direct knowledge of the diplomatic talks told Reuters last week that the United States, Britain and France were impatient with Ottawa over how long it has taken Trudeau to clarify Canada’s combat role.
October 7, 2014 – Following a debate and a vote in the House of Commons, the Harper government announces that Canadian warplanes will join coalition forces attacking IS’s capacity to fight in Iraq.
“The people terrorised by ISIL every day don’t need our vengeance, they need our help”.
Conservative politicians in Canada rejected Trudeau’s move as a “shameful step backward”, while the social democratic NDP slammed Trudeau for sending Canadian soldiers on an “open-ended combat military mission in Iraq”, CBC reported.
“We know Canada is stronger – much stronger – than the threat posed by a murderous gang of thugs”, he said.
The reconfigured mission – to be extended until the end of March 2017 – includes strategic advisers to help Iraq’s defence and interior ministries.
Two surveillance planes will continue to carry out activities there, and the number of Canadian soldiers training local troops in the fights against IS will be boosted.
He also said that U.S. President Barack Obama “fully understands our… campaign commitment and our right to make the choices that suit Canada and Canada’s mission”, and that the President “is thankful that we are stepping up our training and our other areas of involvement”.
The Liberal government will also contribute more than $1.6bn over three years to bolster security, stabilization and humanitarian aid to the region, including increasing counterterrorism efforts in neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan.
Trudeau said: “Our new policy in Iraq, Syria and the surrounding region reflects what Canada is all about: defending our interests alongside our allies, and working constructively with local partners to build real solutions that will last”.
$270 million more is being earmarked to bolster local social services and improve assistance for refugees in the region who have been displaced by the war.
As well as training them, Canada will also arm the Kurdish forces with light weapons such as assault rifles, machineguns and light mortars, as well as optical systems for the weapons and ammunition.
Trudeau has said his Liberal government would withdraw Canada’s fighter jets from the air campaign against I-SIL in Iraq and Syria, despite calls from the opposition to rethink his decision.
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Trudeau, Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion and Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan will speak at a press conference.
