Canada sending up to 20 police officers to Mali

Senior officials say the federal government plans to send officers and invest millions in Mali peacekeeping mission

OTTAWA — The federal government plans to deepen Canada’s involvement in Mali by sending up to 20 police officers and investing millions of dollars in the coming years to help train local security forces in the destitute West African nation.

The latest initiatives were revealed Thursday, as the first Canadian Forces helicopter and another group of military personnel deployed to take up their roles in what’s come to be known as the world’s most dangerous peacekeeping mission.

Canada has already committed a total of eight helicopters and 250 service members for the next 12 months to provide medical evacuations and other support to the UN in Mali, which has been torn up by conflict since 2012.

The Canadians are expected to officially take over from the current German and Belgian helicopter contingent next week; as of Aug. 1, they will begin flying missions from a dusty UN base in the northern city of Gao.

But senior officials who briefed reporters Thursday on condition of anonymity said the government is also in talks with the UN and European Union about sending Canadian police officers, who will train Malian counterparts to better provide law and order to the country.

One of the main complaints about the Malian security forces is that they are understrength and stretched thin, meaning they have been hard-pressed to extend their reach into much of the country — especially those areas where fighting over smuggling routes is prevalent.

The RCMP, along with officials from Public Safety Canada, Global Affairs Canada and the Surete du Quebec, visited Mali last month to take a closer look at the work that is underway and how Canada can contribute.

The government is waiting for the UN and EU to lay out the number and type of officers that they want Canada to send, said one official, adding: “Obviously, and very importantly, we need to also determine the level of risk that we’re willing to undertake.

“The primary responsibility is always to ensure the duty of care of our Canadian police officers who we deploy to peace operations, so we’ll need to come to ground on where we stand there.”

At the same time, a second official said Canada has contributed about $40 million since 2010 toward counterterrorism training in Mali, which has seen Islamic extremist groups stoke internal tensions and target local and UN forces with attacks.

Those investments are set to continue, with about $10 million per year earmarked for more such training, the second official said, “and we anticipate going forward that, of course, Mali will be a beneficiary of a good proportion of that funding.”

Mali has been riven by conflict and strife since a rebellion in the north and a coup in the capital in 2012 threw the country into turmoil, which has been exacerbated by poverty, drought and an influx of Islamic jihadists.