Anti-terror plan to come soon: Dion
Jets still set to return home, but foreign minister says troop training role will grow
OTTAWA— Canada’s bombing missions against Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria will end in a “matter of weeks,” Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion says.
That’s when the Liberals intend to roll out their new strategy for Canada’s anti-terror fight in the region, one that will involve a beefed-up training role.
“We want to do it at the same time as we come (up) with a new plan,” Dion told reporters Monday.
The Liberals campaigned on a vow to withdraw Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets from the region, ending a combat campaign that began a year earlier.
But in the weeks since the Oct. 19 election, the CF-18s have continued to strike at Islamic State targets, including four raids in the first five days of December. But Dion suggested that the Liberals have delayed action on the election promise to consult with coalition partners on their plans for Canada’s next step. “If it was only us to design a new plan, it would be done overnight. But we want to do it with our allies to be sure our work is complementary to their efforts, not duplication,” he said.
Still, pressed for a timeline when the Canadian bombing raids will stop, Dion replied, “it’s a matter of weeks, not months.”
The fate of the combat mission led off the first question period for the new Liberal government Monday as Conservative interim leader Rona Ambrose questioned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau why Canada was withdrawing from the Islamic State fight at the very time other nations are escalating their military action.
“The prime minister has ordered our CF-18s to stand down. Why is the prime minister stepping back from the fight when our allies are stepping up?” Ambrose said.
“Let us just be clear about what ISIS is. It is a death cult that sells children and women into sexual slavery. It targets and kills gays and lesbians . . . Just how bad does it have to be in Iraq and Syria for him to leave our CF-18s there?” she said.
Trudeau, who called Islamic State a “group of terrible terrorists,” replied that the military will remain involved and that Canada would assist with humanitarian needs and refugees.
“The question has always been how best to engage, and how can Canada use its strengths,” the prime minister said.
Dion said later in question period that Canada is delivering only 2 per cent of the airstrikes and that the Liberals wanted to “focus on where Canada will make a real difference.”
The Canadian Press reported Monday that NATO wants to see Canada play a role in its reconstituted military mission to train Iraqi security forces — an idea the alliance’s secretary general pitched directly to Dion.
Jens Stoltenberg’s conversation with Dion at last week’s foreign minister’s meeting in Brussels was not a formal request, but defence and diplomatic sources say it was meant to sound out the Trudeau government’s potential interest in the defence capacity-building program, which was announced last summer.
Canada contributed to the previous training mission in Iraq, which was shut down in 2011when the U.S. withdrew its forces, the official added.
NATO gave no timelines for the training, which is to take place at secure bases in Turkey and Jordan. New Democrat Leader Thomas Mulcair used question period to press the Liberals whether their climate change plan will result in a re- duction of greenhouse gases in 2016.
Trudeau said the Liberals promised billions of dollars in investments in green infrastructure and clean energy. “We have a whole plan to achieve what the previous government failed,” he said. While MPs were in the Commons last week for the election of the Speaker, Monday marked the first day of routine business and gave several of the rookie politicians their first chance to speak in the chamber.
“I first want to say that it is a privilege and an honour to be standing for the first time in this honourable house,” Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said before his reply to a question.
There was a congenial feel to the first question period as MPs took turns congratulating each other on their election, a mood which helped Geoff Regan as he umpired his first question period since his election as Commons’ speaker last week.
There was also a standing ovation as Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger rose to his feet to ask a question. The political veteran revealed last week that he has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.