PM still weighs peace support
Trudeau says it’s crucial that forces be deployed on ‘right mission’ at right time
SHOULD CANADA GO TO AFRICA? In a continuing series, the Star examines our return to peacekeeping
OTTAWA—about the Faced drawn-out with decision questionson a peace support mission, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is insisting his government is taking the “appropriate” time to decide details of the deployment. Asked Friday about a potential mission to Mali, Trudeau did not deny that the African nation could be a destination for the Canadian troops. But he offered no additional insight into when a decision can be expected. “Canadians know that we have a strong role to play around the world in promoting peace, security and stability. It’s not just altruism. We know that Canada does better when we’re in a world that is characterized by more stability and opportunity for everyone,” Trudeau said during a visit to Woodbridge. He highlighted the Liberal government commitments made last August of 600 soldiers, 150 police officers and $450 million over three years for peace and stabilization efforts. Just where that mission would be deployed was expected to be an-
nounced by Christmas.
The Star reported Friday that a decision appears off the radar for now, delayed perhaps until fall.
Asked about the delay, Trudeau suggested Friday that the government continues to weigh how best to deploy soldiers. “The determination on how exactly and where exactly to engage Canadian forces is an extremely important one. We know that we need to make sure that Canadians will be able to help appropriately on the ground,” he said. “But any time we’re making decisions about sending the extraordinarily brave women and men of the Canadian forces potentially into harm’s way, we have to make sure that it’s the right approach, that it’s the right mission, that they have the right training and equipment and we are taking the appropriate amount of time to reflect how best to engage Canadians in international peacekeeping operations,” Trudeau said. Canada could find itself drawn back into a conflict it left behind three years ago — NATO is assessing a request from commanders on the ground in Afghanistan for several thousand more troops to assist with training. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary general, said that the military alli- ance will make decisions on the “scale and scope” of the mission in the coming weeks.
“But this is not about returning back to a combat operation in Afghanistan, it will continue to be a train, assist and advice operation, because I strongly believe that the best answer we have to terrorism, the best weapon we have to terrorism, is to train local forces to fight terrorism, to stabilize their own country,” Stoltenberg said.
In a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel this week, Stoltenberg ruled out a return to combat for NATO in Afghanistan, saying the alliance should be “much more engaged in training, capacity building and not so much focused on big military combat operations beyond our borders.”
Canada ended its12-year mission in Afghanistan in 2014, an operation that claimed the lives of 158 military personnel. For the final three years, Canada contributed personnel to the NATO training mission to train and mentor Afghan National Security Forces.
A spokesperson for Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said that Canada has not yet been asked to return to Afghanistan.
The request comes against the backdrop of resurgence by the Taliban, an issue certain to be on the agenda when alliance leaders, including Trudeau, gather for a NATO summit in Brussels on May 25.