Canada to play role in battle against IS, Trudeau vows

Theglobeandmail.com
Nov. 16, 2015
By Bill Curry

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told world leaders that Canada will continue to be an active member of the coalition against the Islamic State.

During a closed door evening dinner that was scheduled to focus on terrorism even before Friday’s terror attacks in Paris, Mr. Trudeau intervened by describing the Islamic State as a scourge on the world.

The meeting was private but a spokesperson provided a summary of Mr. Trudeau’s remarks.

According to the account, Mr. Trudeau said no one is immune to violence and discussed last October’s incident involving an armed gunman who shot and killed Canadian soldier Nathan Cirillo before storming Parliament Hill, where the gunman was quickly shot and killed inside the building.

While many other G20 leaders spoke publicly over the weekend about ramping up the fight against terrorism in light of the Paris attacks, Mr. Trudeau has kept a low profile on the issue.

He has not taken questions from the media since arriving in Antalya Saturday, but he is scheduled to hold a news conference Monday afternoon following the conclusion of the G20 summit.

A draft communique circulating Monday at the summit indicates the G20 leaders will release a statement specifically focused on terrorism that mentions the recent attacks in France and Turkey.

“We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the heinous terrorist attacks in Paris on 13 November and in Ankara on 10 October,” states the document, which was obtained and circulated by the C20, a collection of civil society groups. “We are concerned over the acute and growing flow of foreign terrorist fighters and the threat it poses for all States, including countries of origin, transit and destination. We are resolved to address this threat by enhancing our co-operation and developing relevant measures to prevent and tackle this phenomenon, including operational information-sharing, border management to detect travel, preventive measures and appropriate criminal justice response.”

Finance Minister Bill Morneau, who is the only other Canadian politician at the G20, said Sunday evening that the Paris attacks do not change Canada’s plans to withdraw its CF-18 fighter jets from the bombing mission in Iraq and Syria.

“We remain committed to the coalition. We believe that we do need to be part of the fight to degrade and destroy ISIL,” he said, using another term for the Islamic State. “We only question the way that we should best do that. We have some of the other ministers in our cabinet working on this issue back in Canada right now.”