Military postpones several overseas missions

OTTAWA— The Canadian Armed Forces is postponing the deployment of a warship and surveillance aircraft to help enforce United Nations’ sanctions against North Korea because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The delay is one of numerous changes the Armed Forces is making to its overseas missions following a detailed analysis of the roughly 20 operations that the military is either already conducting or which were due to begin in the coming months.

“We conducted a detailed analysis of our operations to determine whether further adjustments were required to protect our personnel while ensuring continuity for critical tasks,” Forces spokesperson Capt. Leah Campbell said in an email.

“Following this review, we adjusted some of our operations. These adjustments range from delaying the deployment of some capabilities, to amending the number of CAF personnel deployed, to modifying the length of deployments while the risks of COVID-19 remain present.”

The new changes follow an earlier decision to withdraw Armed Forces members from Iraq, scale back Canada’s military training mission in Ukraine and bring back several warships from different parts of the world.

They also come as the federal government is deploying the majority of the military’s medical personnel to help with long-term-care facilities in Quebec and Ontario that have been hit hard by COVID-19.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan last week said the military would have 1,350 service members in 25 long-term-care facilities in Quebec by mid-May and another 265 in five institutions in Ontario. Many other troops are currently remaining in their homes in case to stay healthy in case they are required to assist with spring flooding or wildfires across different parts of the country.