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Canadian Government Sends Military Personnel to Iraq; Opposition MP’s Ask for Emergency Debate
13 September 2014
Canadian Government Sends Military Personnel to Iraq; Opposition MP’s Ask for Emergency Debate (CRC)—A day before President Obama adressed the nation on his strategy to exterminate ISIL, the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee heard testimony from Defence Minister Rob Nicholson, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Chief of Defence Staff Tom Lawson. Opposition MP’s on the Committee were given few details, under the pretext of "operational security", of the 30-day deployment to Iraq of military advisers, mostly from the Canadian Special Operations Regiment, and their mission to advise Kurdish forces on tactics against ISIL. On September 9, CBC News reported on the day’s testimony in Committee in an article Iraq crisis: Canadians on the ground in Iraq, Rob Nicholson says. The week before his testimony John Baird travelled to Iraq accompanied by the NDP’s Foreign Affairs Critic Paul Dewar and the Liberal Critic Marc Garneau. Baird announced from Iraq that the Canadian government would give $15 million in aid earmarked for security, which includes such material as body armour and vehicles to support Kurdish and Iraq forces. Following the September 9 Committee hearings, 3 MP’s from the main political parties in the House were interviewed by journalist Evan Solomon for CBC News on their views. Jack Harris for the NDP feared a “slippery slope” where our government would eventually be pressured into agreeing that our Canadian troops undertake a full combat mission in Iraq and Marc Garneau called for an emergency debate in the House of Commons.[GG] |