Defence Minister Jason Kenney says Canada is not considering expanding its mission in Iraq, despite the U.S.’ plans to send more troops to the embattled country.
Speaking to CTV’s Question Period, Kenney said Canada is not planning to change its current role in Middle Eastern country against the Islamic State terror group.
“We were very clear in making a decision about the extension and expansion of our mission for one year,” said Kenney. “We’ve been clear that we’re not going to expand our ground troop presence.”
Earlier this year, the House of Commons voted to extend Canada’s mission in Iraq, including the presence of 69 troops training Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the north, and expand airstrikes to Syria.
Last week, U.S. President Barack Obama ordered the deployment of up to 450 more troops to Anbar, Iraq, toboost the training of local forces. The U.S. is leading the coalition, of which Canada is a part, against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.
Kenney said that while Kurdish troops are “doing a great job” pushing back against Islamic State fighters in the northern part of the country, he said the Iraqi army has to step up their fight.
“At the end of the day, this is the responsibility for the Iraqi security forces,” said Kenney. “They, quite frankly, have to do better and we hope that additional training support from the U.S. may support them in that.”
With files from the Associated Press
