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Canadians deserve details on UN mission
10-04-2016
The Liberal government is signalling it will commit 600 Canadian troops to a United Nations mission in Africa, but Canadians are still left in the dark on what exactly the mission will entail.
Through his Speech from the Throne, Justin Trudeau promised to “renew Canada’s commitment to United Nations peacekeeping.” His Defence Minister, Harjit Sajjan, has admitted that peacekeeping no longer exists. This is another broken Liberal promise.
The Liberals have been hiding information on this mission for months. Canadians don’t know any details, and we don’t know what kind of threats our troops will face. However, we do know that the mission will mean Canadian men and women will be placed in some of the most dangerous areas of the world.
What’s worse, the Liberals are refusing to commit to a House of Commons vote on the matter.
This summer, my Conservative colleagues and I hosted over 40 roundtables across the country, hearing from Canadians on Canada’s Defence Policy. Throughout this process, peacekeeping missions were never a priority. Instead, it was agreed that Canada’s first responsibility is to defend our country and our allies. We need a military that is focused on Canada first. That said, our Conservative Caucus and all Canadians have full confidence in our Canadian Armed Forces, and I know they are fully capable of performing any task asked of them.
It’s unfair to Canadians, our allies – and more importantly – our Canadian Armed Forces to make a blind commitment of this magnitude.
As the Official Opposition, we continue to call on the Liberal government to bring this UN mission to Parliament for a full debate and a vote. Canadians deserve to know the details.
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