Peacekeeping is an important part of Canada’s identity and our relationship to the global community, and it is a source of great pride and accomplishment for the Canadian Armed Forces. I am proud to serve as MP for the military community at CFB Esquimalt, the NDP’s defence critic, and the vice chair of the standing committee on national defence. I believe strongly in peacekeeping, and I have long-advocated for Canada to increase peacekeeping activity. As such, I believe that our latest role supporting the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali is important for both Mali and Canada.
Canada’s latest peacekeeping venture in Mali is a welcome development. This mission marks a good starting point for the recommitment to international peacekeeping promised by the Liberals in the 2015 election. Canada now has 250 personnel in Mali providing medical evacuations and critical transportation. This builds on the decade that Canada has already spent working on development assistance in Mali. However, the Liberal’s delivery on the promise to take on a peacekeeping mission was slow, and Canada’s contribution falls short of the 600 troops and 150 police that the Liberals promised to commit in 2015.
I will continue to use my role as NDP defence critic and vice chair of the standing committee on national defence to advocate for Canada to fulfill all of its peacekeeping commitments and once again play a significant role in creating and maintaining the conditions for peace around the world. I will also continue to advocate for Canadian Forces members to be provided with the necessary training, equipment, and support to undertake these important missions.
Despite strong case for providing support to the UN mission in Mali, this recent Canadian peacekeeping initiative has not been without critics. Critics have said that this mission is not in Canada’s national interest. This ignores Canada’s long commitment to development programs in Mali and the value of promoting peace and stability in countries like Mali. Success in Mali means that the international community can help avoid a massive humanitarian catastrophe and at the same time deny operating space and recruiting opportunities for international terrorist organizations, the drug trade and the human trafficking operations that grow out of failed states. Critics have also misrepresented the complex and difficult situation on the ground in Mali by saying that there is no peace to keep in the country. However, Canada has a proud history of peacekeeping precisely because Canadians understand the common benefits of participating in these kinds of peace operations.
Peacekeeping operations offer the best chance for a society to emerge from prolonged conflict by creating the necessary political, socio-economic, and security conditions. I am proud to see our Armed Forces doing this important work, and I will continue to use my voice as MP for Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke to support this peacekeeping mission and others.
Randall Garrison is the Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke MP.