Canada cannot ‘sit back’ in a dangerous world, Justin Trudeau says

Canada cannot afford to “sit back” in a dangerous world, despite the potential dangers of an upcoming peace mission that could put soldiers in harm’s way, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says.

Thestar.com
Dec. 4, 2016
By Bruce Campion-Smith

Canada cannot “sit back” in a dangerous world, despite the potential dangers of an upcoming peace mission that could put soldiers in harm’s way, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says.

In a meeting with the editorial board of the Toronto Star on Friday, Trudeau provided a hint of the risks and rationale for the upcoming mission, along with a commitment to spell out to Canadians “all the factors that went into making the decision.”

Mindful of Canada’s long engagement in Afghanistan - and the question of whether it had lasting effect - Trudeau said Canada’s upcoming peace mission will seek to be more than a “Band-Aid” and instead endeavour to provide lasting stability, he said.

The Star has reported that the deployment is probably headed to Mali, home to one of the most dangerous United Nations missions, raising the real prospect that Canada’s mission could take casualties if that deployment becomes a reality.

Trudeau said the government is being “very, very thoughtful” about those kind of risks and potential outcomes of the operation.

“That’s the calculation you have to do, to a certain extent - how can we both create the peace, stability, positive outcomes that we want, at a level of minimal risk to Canadians?

“We have a dangerous world right now, there’s no question about it. And, we cannot simply sit back and say ‘We’re not going to do anything about it’- because, we know, that instability around the world does end up affecting us here, in Canada. So we have a responsibility, we have an opportunity, to engage it,” the prime minister said.

Trudeau cautioned that Africa might not be the only focus of his government’s peace initiatives, which are expected to be debated soon by cabinet.

“I think everybody knows it’s likely to be Africa, but until we make a final decision, then it may be 90 per cent in Africa and 10 per cent somewhere else. I mean there’s a broad range of things that we’re going to be looking at,” Trudeau said.

Certainly Africa has been a focus of much the government’s pre-deployment planning as it deliberates where to deploy up to 600 soldiers and 150 police officers along with $450 million in funding over three years. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has made two fact-finding missions to countries on the continent. International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau made her own trip to three African nations in late August.

Trudeau made plain that the mission will attempt to help set in motion lasting changes, to be “part of a trend-line towards greater stability and security in whichever region we end up in.”

“It’s not enough to just fix a punctual problem. I think we know that there’s a level of continual engagement, which doesn’t mean unlimited or unbounded, but it does mean a level of engagement that is more focused on evolving the situation towards peace, rather than imposing it in a way that will flare up as soon as we pull out.”

Trudeau said that the federal government has learned from past engagements, notably Afghanistan, where he concedes the record of enduring success is a mixed one, despite a military mission that stretched more than 10 years, cost the lives of 158 Canadian soldiers and left several thousand more suffering the physical and mental wounds of their deployment.

The prime minister said he disagrees with any suggestions Canada didn’t make a “significant positive difference” in Afghanistan.

“As much as we might have hoped for? Probably not, obviously not,” Trudeau said.

Indeed, on key measures he himself cited - more opportunities for girls to attend school, more stable governance structure, opportunities for peace and security and economic growth - Trudeau conceded that the record was mixed.

“I would say that it’s been a very challenging situation,” the prime minister said.

“I think there are definitely indicators that we’ve managed to improve. There are others that we haven’t managed to,” he said.

He singled out governance as one area where Afghanistan has a “long way to go.”

“They’re still a country struggling with levels of corruption, with levels of insecurity. . . . regional divisions that are less than ideal for a stable, successful state,” he said.

But moves by the Taliban to reclaim territory and influence in Afghanistan have again raised questions whether the long and costly military intervention by Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and others made a lasting mark.

That question looms large for Canada as it ponders a sizable military deployment to another trouble zone.

“I think one of the things that’s very clear is that we learn,” he said, saying that the Afghan mission helped shape the ongoing mission in northern Iraq, where Canadian soldiers are mentoring peshmerga troops

“Every step of the way, we get better at understanding the nature of conflicts the world is facing right now, and how Canada can play a constructive role, consistent with our abilities and our competitive advantages,” he said.

But as cabinet gets ready to make a decision, the Senate committee on national security and defence last week issued a report that warned that the upcoming mission will be risky and complicated.

“The security environment where the UN missions now deploy has grown increasingly complex and dangerous as armed conflicts and tribal tensions become more fragmented and multi-dimensional,” the report said.

“UN peace operations increasingly face asymmetric threats on the ground. This trend has led to rising death tolls in UN missions taking place in Africa, particularly Mali,” it said.

The report called on the government to table a “statement of justification” setting out the size of the mission, its goals and risks, the costs, details for a “fixed-term” withdrawal plan along with “clear” rules of engagement that permit troops to defend themselves and civilians.

Senators also want the government to ensure that soldiers returning from the mission are looked after, especially those who develop post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of their deployment.