Despite a recent dispute surrounding the incident that led to a Canadian soldier's death in Iraq, Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson expects good relations with the Kurds to continue.
Nicholson, who recently returned from his first trip to Iraq as foreign affairs minister, told CTV's Question Period that a disagreement about the circumstances surrounding Sgt. Andrew Doiron's death has not hurt relations between the Kurdish army and Canada.
"I believe, in the long term, that we'll continue in terms of the good relationship that we've had with the Kurds," said Nicholson.
There have been conflicting reports about the events leading to Doiron's death on March 6.
A spokesman for the Kurdish forces in Iraq told The Associated Press last week that the Canadians showed up to the village of Bashiq, north of Mosul, unannounced and ignored an order to stay in their vehicle. Halgurd Hekmat said the peshmerga asked them to identify themselves, the Canadians answered in Arabic and then the peshmerga started shooting.
But Canadian officials tell a different version of events. A senior military source told CTV's Mercedes Stephenson that members of the Canadian Special Forces had already cleared two Kurdish checkpoints on March 6. But when the Canadians approached a third Kurdish unit, they were fired upon.
Doiron was killed and three other Canadian soldiers were wounded.
Mission extension?
Doiron was the first Canadian killed in the six-month Iraq mission, which is set to expire April 7. The Conservative government has said it will consult Parliament if it decides to extend Canada's role in the country. Acknowledging the fact that the House of Commons is on break the week of April 7, Nicholson said Canadians can expect a decision from the government on whether to extend the mission "very soon."
"If a decision is made by the government of Canada to continue our mission, that would be placed before Parliament," said Nicholson. "And there's only so many days now between now and the 7th of April."
Canadian involvement in Ukraine
Nicholson refused to indicate when cabinet will make a decision on whether to send Canadian military trainers to Ukraine.
"We have given robust support to Ukraine and that's going to continue," said Nicholson. "So we are standing by Ukraine for the long term and we are absolutely committed to … ensuring their freedom is respected."
Wednesday marks one year since the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula. Nicholson maintained Canada's support for the Ukraine's independence, calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to respect that.
"The government has been very clear that our support for Ukraine is absolutely important and something that we are going to continue until Putin and the gang with him gets the message."
