Trudeau Rules out Canadian Participation in Military strikes against Syria

By BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH, The Toronto Star 

OTTAWA—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that Canada's military will not participate in expected strikes against the Syrian regime that are meant as retaliation for a suspected chemical attack against civilians.

Canadian CF-18 Hornets depart after refueling over Iraq on Oct. 30, 2014. The fighters jets were in the region flying bombing mission against Daesh extremists in Iraq but that mission was ended by Trudeau’s government after it took office in 2015.  (STAFF SGT. PERRY ASTON / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Speaking to Radio-Canada, the prime minister said Canadian military personnel are already involved in missions in northern Iraq and Latvia and will be deploying to Mali. “We are not looking to be present in Syria,” Trudeau said in an interview.

But he said Canada has been involved in delivering humanitarian assistance and working through diplomatic and political channels to resolve the conflict in Syria that has laid waste to cities, left thousands dead and forced citizens to flee to safety in neighbouring countries.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned Wednesday of an imminent strike on Syria, declaring on social media that missiles “will be coming” and taunted Russia for its pledge to shoot them down.

“Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” Trump said on Twitter.

The threatened action comes after an attack last weekend in the Syrian town of Douma that possibly involved chemical weapons, which is believed to have killed 40 people. The attack is blamed on the government of President Bashar al-Assad though it has denied responsibility.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland condemned the attack at the time, saying the “repeated and morally reprehensible use of chemical weapons” by the Assad regime has been confirmed by independent observers.

“Canada condemns the Assad regime — and its backers, Russia and Iran — for its repeated, gross violations of human rights and continued, deliberate targeting of civilians,” Freeland said in a statement.

Trump has spoken to world leaders and U.S. officials said the U.S., France and Britain discussed the possibility of a military strike, according to a report by The Associated Press.

Canada did have CF-18 fighters jets in the region flying bombing mission against Daesh extremists in Iraq. That mission — launched by the previous Conservative government — was halted by Trudeau’s Liberal government after it took office in 2015.

Currently, Canada has a small number of special operations forces troops still deployed in northern Iraq to assist local forces in their fight against Daesh, along with Griffon helicopters. A CC-150 Polaris air-to-air refueller is also still flying missions, refuelling other fighters in their patrol missions.

New Mission against ISIL won’t include sending troops to Syria: Sajjan

By: Lee Berthiaume, The Globe and Mail 

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has ruled out sending Canadian troops into Syria as the clock ticks down on Canada’s current mission against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Military planners have been drawing up options for the next phase of the fight against ISIL, after the Trudeau government extended the current mission for another three months in March.

The hope was that the battle for the city of Mosul would be over by the new deadline on June 30, at which point the international community would have a better idea of how the next chapter was shaping up.

ISIL continues to hold out in parts of Mosul, but Sajjan said Friday that the government is looking at how the mission should change to better support the fight against the extremist group.

Yet Sajjan closed the door on sending troops into Syria, offering a clear “No” when asked if that option was on the table.

“Right now, as Canada, we’re focused on Iraq and we’ll continue that focus to make sure we reinforce some of the gains that we have made and make adjustments where it’s necessary,” he said.

That is despite the presence of several hundred U.S. troops in Syria and the fact that Canadian surveillance planes and a refuelling aircraft have flown missions over the country for the last several months.

Their efforts have fed into the larger U.S.-led bombing campaign against ISIL in both Iraq and Syria.

Canada also has about 200 special forces operating alongside Kurdish and Iraq forces in northern Iraq, including inside Mosul, as well as medical personnel and a helicopter detachment in the area.

Sajjan said Canada remains committed to the fight against ISIL and supporting Iraq, where there are fears the extremist group will go underground and resort to more traditional terror attacks after Mosul.

That will require different training and support from the international community, which to this point has been largely focused on helping Iraqi and Kurdish forces fight ISIL as a regular military force.

There are also concerns about Iraq’s political future, with several potential conflicts bubbling just beneath the surface as the threat posed by ISIL appears to be receding.

The president of Iraq’s Kurdistan region announced earlier this month that a referendum on independence will be held on Sept. 25, setting up a potentially explosive standoff with Baghdad.

Much of Canada’s military support in Iraq has gone to the Kurds.

Sajjan also said the Trudeau government continues to weigh a request from NATO to send police trainers to Afghanistan.

Trudeau Hasn't Ruled Out Military Role In Syria

By: Althia Raj, The Huffington Post 

The Liberal government isn’t ruling out a military contribution in Syria, a government spokesman told Follow-Up, The Huffington Post Canada’s political podcast, this week.

And it won’t say whether it will back further unilateral action in the region by the United States to help remove Bashar al-Assad.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland repeated last week that the Syrian president “has to go.”

Chrystia Freeland leaves after a family picture on the second day of a meeting of foreign affairs ministers from the G7 countries on April 11, 2017 in Lucca, Tuscany. (Photo: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images)

“Assad cannot remain in power in Syria,” she told reporters after a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Italy. “We do not see a future for Syria with Assad ruling the country.”

Freeland’s comments came on the heels of U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to drop 59 Tomahawk missiles on an airfield allegedly linked to last week’s deadly chemical attack in Syria.

Matt DeCourcey, Freeland’s parliamentary secretary, told HuffPost that Canada’s support for further military action in Syria will depend on the circumstances.

“I think those are discussions that we would prefer to have with our allies, through the G7, through the U.N., through our allies in other coalition efforts,” he said on the Follow-Up podcast.

“I wouldn’t want to comment on what hypothetical action the U.S. might take wherever, but I would want to assure Canadians that our close relationships with the U.S. allies is to be knowledgeable and in the loop on their ongoing plans and actions as it relates to some of the conflict zones around the world.”
“I think those are discussions that we would prefer to have with our allies, through the G7, through the U.N., through our allies in other coalition efforts.”

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan told reporters early this week that using chemical weapons against human beings is “something that has to be stopped.” He said the decision to drop missiles had been “supported by good intelligence” and was intended to send “a message to Assad that actions like this is not going to come without consequence.”

But what those consequences will be remains unclear.

While Canada is urging Russia to sever ties with the Assad regime, DeCourcey said the country’s participation in pushing the leader out is yet to be determined. Canada is a taking an active part in diplomatic talks, the parliamentary secretary said, but the Liberal government is not ruling out the possibility of military engagement.

“Oh I really can’t say at this point, and I think we all need to be reasonable in our expectations of the length of time we are talking about to come to a peaceful solution in Syria. This isn’t going to happen tomorrow, it’s not going to happen after the long weekend,” DeCourcey said.

“We continue to be deliberate in building good relationships with our allies in strengthening the bond with the U.S. administration and continuing to invest in humanitarian aid, in the diplomatic efforts that we are already tremendously involved in, as well as coalition efforts that we are already involved with militarily to defeat Daesh, which is another horrid wrinkle in this whole situation.

“We will continue to be involved. And we will continue to espouse our values and we will continue to support that stabilized region of the world.”

A senior government source told HuffPost Canada that the cabinet is not considering any military contribution but is keeping options open, in part, because it doesn’t know what requests may come from the Trump administration.

DeCourcey spoke on Follow-Up as part of a larger discussion on the Liberals’ foreign policy agenda and the impact of the Trump presidency. Listen to the latest episode here.

He suggested the close relationship the Trudeau government has sought to build with the Trump White House has “already paid dividends.”

“We have seen the president express, I think, views that are more closely aligned to ours with around multilateralism, around the importance of NATO, around the importance, once again, of finding that lasting peace for the Syrian people,” DeCourcey said, claiming credit for influencing Trump’s about face on Syria and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

“We understand that the United States … is a significant actor in the world and our relationship with them is vital,” he said.

Face to Face: Should Canada Send Ground Troops into Syria?

Published by: The Legion Magazine, March/April 2017 

The opinions in this article belong to Stephen J. Thorne and  David J. Bercuson

On its Global Affairs website, the Government of Canada describes the conflict in Syria as “the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today.” It quotes UN figures: 13.5 million people inside Syria in urgent need of help; more than a quarter-million dead, hundreds of thousands wounded; some five million-plus refugees.

It’s a catastrophe that is spreading by the day. Efforts to contain it are like putting the proverbial genie back in the bottle. But, bless its big heart, Canada is trying.

“To date, Canada has committed almost $1 billion in humanitarian, development and security assistance in response to the Syria crisis,” says Global Affairs.

Trouble is, Canada—and the international community—are a day late and a dollar short when it comes to responsible action in Syria and elsewhere in the region. The genie is out and what more havoc he has yet to reap is anyone’s guess.

There is no doubt Canada should contribute what it can to alleviate the refugee crisis and assist humanitarian efforts in Syria. But the need for such measures could largely have been prevented had Canada and its allies acted early and decisively to stop the excesses of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the rise of ISIS and the involvement of Russia.

That said, opportunities still exist to stem the tide of misery and destruction. And so, as co-ordinated efforts to defeat ISIS gain momentum, Canada needs to be there, wherever the fight may take it, for ISIS is the enemy of us all.

Arising out of peaceful anti-government protests in 2011, the Syrian conflict is no longer a civil war. It has become an insurgency involving a complex entanglement of diverse combatants whose motives and goals comprise conflicting ethnic, religious and political factors that threaten to plunge the entire region, unstable as it already is, into chaos.

Virtually all principle combatants have a common enemy: ISIS, soldiered by international fighters whose stated aim is nothing less than to rule the world. An offshoot of al-Qaida, there is no negotiating with its fanatics.

Their methods, from videotaped beheadings to enslavement to burning captives alive, are more ruthless and barbaric than al-Qaida’s. Their goals, which have nothing to do with true Islamic beliefs, are uncompromising.

Eliminate the jihadist extremists and there is surely a road to peace, albeit a bumpy one. Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the lack of commitment among Western allies and, under the pretense of contributing to the solution, rushed to fill the void. His indiscriminate bombing has killed and injured thousands of innocent civilians while willfully undermining Western aims. He has advanced the interests of Assad, a dictator who has used chemical weapons on his own citizens.

To be part of the solution, Canada must contribute more to the fight. We are currently addressing the results of the widespread unwillingness to get involved. But you can’t claim to be a leader and humanitarian, as Canadians so proudly believe their country to be, while turning your back as a preventable tragedy unfolds.

Decisive military action will save the lives of innocent people, preserve antiquities, discourage Putin’s opportunism and help stabilize a volatile and escalating situation.

Canada’s military is far from the biggest or the best-equipped. But its troops are second to none and regularly punch well above their weight in areas of conflict.

Canada has already gotten its hands dirty in the region. While it has ended bombing sorties in Iraq and Syria, its special forces are training, advising and fighting alongside Iraqi troops in military operations against ISIS.

It’s also providing small arms and ammunition to Iraqi forces, Canadian helicopters have been evacuating wounded, and Canada is helping pinpoint ISIS targets.

It can and should do more.

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Stephen J. Thorne is an award-winning journalist, editor and photographer. He has reported on the downfall of South African Apartheid and from war fronts in Kosovo and Afghanistan. 

anada ought to withdraw the army from the Syria/Iraq theatre and stop deploying our troops in penny packets to selected trouble spots around the world. With virtually no danger anywhere near our borders, we have sent troops to fight foreign wars since the South African War of 1899 to increase our international presence, aid our allies and fulfill alliance responsibilities. When we do so, however, we ought to ensure that our military commitments—mainly our army—are large enough to make a difference to whatever campaign we are joining and that Canadian political and economic interests are served by our actions. That does not happen when we thinly spread our tiny regular force army of just under 22,000 men and women hither and yon for purposes that are far more tokenistic than substantial.

Since its election in October 2015, the Liberal government has ended Canadian participation in the air attacks against ISIS but has deployed about 600 soldiers, including special forces, to “train” Kurdish forces fighting ISIS. In addition, the government has announced that 400 Canadian soldiers will be deployed to Latvia and another 600 are expected to go to Africa. So far, that’s about 1,500 soldiers and perilously close to the 2,500 or so trigger pullers that constitute the fighting edge of our army.

During the Cold War, the bulk of our forward deployed army was represented by the 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group stationed in Germany. Canada’s other three brigades were not expeditionary—they were not designed to be “mobilized” and sent abroad.

The deep budget cuts of the early 1990s eliminated the 4th Brigade while cutting the army back by about 5,000 troops. When Canada deployed troops on peacekeeping missions such as UNPROFOR to the Balkans in the early 1990s or UNOSOM to Somalia, battle groups were sent which were essentially battalions with combat engineers, communications troops and other auxiliary but necessary military occupations. All those deployments stretched the army to the breaking point.

When terrorists attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, the Liberal government of Prime Minister Jean Chretien, with Art Eggleton as minister of national defence, stuck to the idea that it would not send small groups of Canadian soldiers as Canada’s contribution to the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban. It was for this reason that they refused to join a British-led mission to police the Afghanistan capital of Kabul after the Taliban were pushed out later that fall. The British wanted a few hundred Canadian specialists but Ottawa would not agree. If Canada was going to join other NATO nations in the fight, we would send a large formation or none at all. Canadians wanted to take part and the government sent the 3 PPCLI Battle Group to operate under U.S. command in Kandahar province. All subsequent deployments to Kabul in 2003 and to Kandahar in 2005 were battle groups.

Why then is this new government doling out Canadian troops with a soup spoon? It is tokenism of the worst kind which will avail Canada little influence but put Canadian troops at risk. In the fight against ISIS, for example, a relative handful of Canadians are daily engaged without Canada having any international profile at all. The world is a very dangerous place these days with tragic and bloody conflicts taking place in Africa and potential full-blown wars elsewhere. Should we not, instead, prepare to make a significant contribution to NATO, rather than try to save the world with fewer soldiers than would fill a small-town hockey arena? The Canadian people and the Canadian government have a choice to make. If we are to embark on saving oppressed peoples or make war in concert with our allies in a meaningful way, let us increase our defence spending and enlarge our military—particularly the army—or stop kidding ourselves about how far our capabilities will stretch.

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David J. Bercuson, author of the "Eye on Defence" column in the Legion Magazine, is director of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary. 

Canadian Forces Studying Options for Potential Syrian Deployment

By: Matthew Fisher, The National Post

The Canadian military has begun to study options for an operation in Syria, for the Liberal government to consider as U.S. president Donald Trump hints he may expand the 16-year-old war on terrorism by sending more troops to that country after the offensive to liberate the Iraqi city of Mosul from ISIL concludes.

Officers familiar with how the military does long-range planning said that offering such choices — as well as examining ways Canada might continue to contribute to the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq after the war there ends — was standard procedure. It is prudent to constantly prepare and update options regarding potential overseas deployment to hot spots in case the government of the day asks for them, they said.

What comes next for Canada and its allies is an obvious question, with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant holding only a sliver of land in Iraq and a much larger swathe of territory in Syria. Lt.-Gen. Steve Townsend, the U.S. ground commander for the wars in Iraq and Syria, expects ISIL to be defeated in both countries within six months. But nobody expects that ISIL, or its rivals, Al Qaeda, will be entirely eradicated for a very long time. There are fears the terrorist groups will go underground in those countries, increase their activities in Somalia or northern and central Africa or take their war global, launching more terrorist attacks on soft civilian targets, particularly in Europe.

It is not publicly known whether the Trump government has asked Ottawa to contribute troops or assist in other ways in the war against ISIL in Syria, or to take on other roles in the war on terror. But if there is anything to be taken from the example of the war in neighbouring Iraq, where Canada has been a participant since August, 2014, such a request is possible.

Canada is one of 17 countries currently assisting Iraqi and Kurdish forces in Iraq. About Canadian 800 troops now involved in what the Canadian Forces calls Operation Impact. About 70 are elite Special Forces from the Ontario-based JTF2. They train, advise and assist Kurdish fighters and when at risk themselves, have occasionally joined the fight.

Other Canadians are targeting experts, based in Kuwait and Qatar, or work with Kuwait-based reconnaissance aircraft which help identify ISIL targets. A small team of Canadian doctors, nurses and technicians also runs a military hospital in the Kurdish city of Erbil, about 70 kilometres east of the front lines around Mosul.

The U.S. already has 500 Special Forces soldiers in Syria and has been preparing the American public for the possibility that more troops may soon be headed there. Gen. Joseph Votel, the U.S. commander responsible for overseeing military operations in the Middle East and South Asia, took journalists with him on a secretive tour of northern Syria last week. At an undisclosed location he told his media entourage that “take-no-prisoners fighting” was in the offing to capture ISIL’s Syrian hub, Raqqa, and that more troops may be needed to accelerate the war against ISIL there.

Any expansion of the coalition war in Syria is complicated by Russia’s political and military support for the government of Syrian President Bashir Assad. There remains confusion over to what extent Trump’s professed admiration for Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, will play a role in decisions made in Washington, particularly as the U.S. president’s top security advisers regard the Kremlin with deep suspicion. Turkey, which is a member of NATO that has improving ties with Moscow, also does not want Syrian Kurdish forces allied with the U.S. to become more powerful.

Canada is already indirectly involved in the war in Syria. Since December, JTF2 has been advising Iraqi Kurds deployed near the Syrian border in northwestern Iraq, in an attempt to prevent ISIL forces escaping from Mosul and reaching Syria. It had been involved in the air war in Syria until the Liberals ordered home the RCAF’s F-18s.

If Canada were to become involved militarily in Syria again it could send a small number of JTF2 troops there in an advisory role. Another possibility is that Canada could be asked to provide “boots on the ground” to help protect civilians from violence in safe zones that Trump has said he intends to establish to prevent the Syrian refugee crisis from worsening.

Canadian Brig.-Gen. Dave Anderson, who heads the coalition’s strategic advisory team in Iraq, told Postmedia in an interview late last year that discussions were already taking place then about how “we — that is, the Iraqi security forces — can not only take Mosul but hold it afterwards.” According to Trump’s most senior general, Joseph Dunford, the U.S. and NATO are considering a long-term military commitment to assist Iraqi and Kurdish forces who will be responsible for trying to prevent ISIL or other terrorist groups from regrouping. Canada’s Iraq mission could be extended indefinitely as part of that effort.

The potential ask for Canada to extend or expand its role in the region comes as Ottawa undertakes an open-ended commitment to lead a NATO battalion in Latvia from this June, and continue training missions in Poland and Ukraine.

CAF Special Forces Monitor ISIL Near Syrian border

By:  Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press

ERBIL, Iraq — Canadian special forces have shifted their operations in northern Iraq to put pressure on ISIL in places outside the strategic city of Mosul — including along the border with Syria.

The objective: To figure out the good guys from the bad so Iraqi military forces and coalition aircraft can attack.

Canadian special forces look over a Peshmerga observation post, Monday, February 20, 2017 in northern Iraq. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

High atop a rocky hilltop Monday, two Canadian soldiers sat in a makeshift bunker located more than a kilometre behind the frontline between Kurdish forces and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

One bearded soldier looked through a high-powered viewfinder, scanning the small community that lay below, while the other took notes. A camera sat between them in case something interesting appeared.

When the first Canadian soldiers arrived in the country in September 2014, their mission was to help train the Peshmerga to stop and hold back a confident and, until then, undefeated ISIL hoard.

That was the first phase of the now nearly two-and-a-half-year-old mission, before ISIL lost the upper hand.

Now, flying by helicopter from Erbil, the Kurds' capital in Iraq, to the Mosul Dam, one can see the barricades of dirt and defensive positions that helped the Peshmerga stop ISIL from overwhelming northern Iraq.

The trenches and stone buildings hastily constructed during that period two years ago lie abandoned today, as the war — and Canada's role in it — shifted from defence to offence.

Kurdish forces, supported by the Canadians, kicked off a long-anticipated attack to free Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, from ISIL in October.

But the Kurds and their Canadian comrades stopped short of Mosul, as planned. Instead, they shifted to fighting the extremist group in other ways and let the Iraqi military enter and clear ISIL from the city.

Briefing reporters on Monday at Camp Erable, the Canadian military camp in Erbil, a special forces officer said the mission has turned toward identifying and monitoring potential ISIL targets in the region.

That includes keeping tabs through optical sights and other means, on "key enemy movement corridors" between Iraq and Syria as well as areas inside and immediately outside Kurdish territory.

The officer said such monitoring helped locate ISIL forces inside a large town that was sidestepped during the early parts of the Mosul offensive and needed cleaning up.

It also means a decline in the number of times Canadian soldiers have actually fired their weapons in recent months, the officer said, as potential targets are relayed to the Iraqis and coalition for destruction.

Canadian special forces man an observation bunker, Monday, February 20, 2017 in northern Iraq. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

The special forces officer, who asked not to be identified for security reasons, said the nature of the Mosul offensive had meant Canadian troops often found themselves in situations where they were required to fire.

That isn't the case now, he said, adding that Canadian soldiers are specifically told to set up in locations where such circumstances are unlikely.

The Canadians continue to work with the Peshmerga. At the hilltop encampment, a number of fighters from the Kurds' elite Zeravani stood guard on the perimeter while others relaxed inside.

In fact, the special forces officer said his soldiers have started working on a program that will train some Kurds to take on the role of instructors themselves.

Capt. Dhyab Mohammed Omar, commander of the Peshmerga fighters, praised his Canadian comrades and the contribution they had made in helping the Kurds fight ISIL.

"We are always honoured to have them at our positions," he said. "It was my wildest dream to work with the Canadians. Having them show up and help us, we would die for them."

While much of the attention surrounding Canada's mission in northern Iraq has been focused on the role being played by the special forces, they aren't operating alone.

Roughly 150 Canadian troops are stationed in Erbil, including a helicopter squadron, logistical staff, and medical personnel, all in support of the special forces mission and broader coalition fight against ISIL.

Four Griffon helicopters from Canadian Forces Base Valcartier ferry troops and equipment from Camp Erable to the special forces troops in the field every day, zipping low like dragonflies over fields, around hills and past isolated communities to avoid enemy fire.

"The challenge here is the more (power) wires and the weather during winter," said Maj. Mathieu Bertrand, commander of the helicopter squadron. "We had some fog. But generally, the weather is good."

A Canadian Forces Griffon helicopter flies over a Internal Displaced persons camp near Erbil, Iraq, February 20, 2017.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Meanwhile, a Canadian military hospital located within Camp Erable's small footprint, which itself is part of a larger coalition base dominated by the U.S., stands ready to provide aid to those wounded in battle.

While the hospital, whose personnel hail from CFB Petawawa, has treated more than 100 patients for various injuries, Lt.-Col. Richard Morin said only 13 had received battlefield wounds. None were Canadian.

"The predominance of cases we're getting are emergency department-type casualties or patients that you would get when you get over 5,000 military troops all in one place," he said.

The hospital has also treated a handful of ISIL fighters who were wounded and detained by coalition forces, which Morin said falls in line with the laws governing war.

"We actually understand even in conflict, there are rules that you need to follow that … respects the dignity of life," he said. "That's what makes us different."

The entire effort is underpinned by logistical personnel, led by Lt.-Col. Dominique Dagenais, who are responsible for Camp Erable and ensuring that everything runs smoothly.

Dagenais said the biggest challenge he faces is ensuring new personnel get their Iraqi visas in time to replace those who are nearing the end of their deployments.

The Iraqi government has in the past dragged its feet when it comes to Canada's mission against ISIL, including delaying deployment of the military hospital and signing off on a plan to arm the Kurds.

— Follow @leeberthiaume on Twitter

Canadian Killed fighting ISIS to be repatriated Thursday

Published by CTVnews

The body of John Gallagher, a Canadian soldier who was killed while fighting Islamic State militants in Syria, will be flown back to Canada this week.

Gallagher's mother, Valerie Carder, told CTVNews.ca that her son's body is set to arrive in Montreal on Thursday morning. She said the flight between Montreal and Toronto is not yet booked.

“The amount of time he will spend in Montreal depends on paperwork and things that are required officially," Carder said in a Facebook message on Tuesday. "Hopefully, he will get to Toronto fairly soon after that."

Facebook Photo of John Gallagher.

"You are encouraged to line the bridges and streets were safely possible, wave your flags and bring any messages of support that you may have for the family," the group wrote on its website.Meanwhile, the Canadian Heroes Foundation, a group that supports front-line responders, is encouraging Canadians to welcome Gallagher home by lining Hwy. 401 between Toronto Pearson International Airport and Blenheim, Ont., which is located about 100 kilometers west of London, Ont.

The Ontario Provincial Police told CTVNews.ca earlier on Tuesday that the police service will not be involved with the convoy.

Gallagher, 32, was killed in Syria earlier this month while fighting with a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia known as the YPG.

Shortly after his death, Carder said Canadian diplomats were working with the YPG to bring his body home.

Gallagher had once served in Bosnia under the Canadian Armed Forces. He left the military in 2005.