Canada's Iraq Mission Extended until 2019 at Cost of $371 million

By: David Pugliese, Defence Watch 

The Liberal government has extended Canada’s military mission in Iraq for almost another two years.

The mission will be extended until March 31, 2019, the government announced Thursday.

“Canada is providing $371.4 million over two years to support the cost of this renewed contribution to the Global Coalition against Daesh,” the government noted in a news release. Daesh is another name for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The Canadian military will be able to deploy capabilities as needs arise, the government noted. “This extension includes the authority to provide training for new potential partners within the Iraqi security forces and a CC-130J Hercules aircraft for tactical airlift,” it added in the news release.

Canada will also continue to contribute existing capabilities, including:

o Aerial refueling and surveillance capabilities;

o Tactical helicopters;

o Training, advising, and assisting Iraqi security forces;

o Capacity building in Jordan and Lebanon;

o A Role 2 medical facility; and

o Personnel, including intelligence support.
This extension includes the authority to deploy up to 850 military personnel.

Peggy Mason, president of the Rideau Institute in Ottawa, pointed out that the Liberals extended the mission without Parliamentary debate.

“The situation on the ground in Iraq is about to radically change with the impending demise of the territorial phase of the Islamic State enterprise,” Mason said in a statement. “Canadian military trainers may find themselves not only confronting a diffused Islamic state insurgency but a Kurdish independence movement and deep sectarian divisions between the Shia- controlled Iraqi government and the Sunni majority population.”

That type of situation should prompt a full debate in Parliament, she added.

“Instead what we have from the Trudeau government is a press release, after Parliament has recessed, and two days before the July 1st festivities begin, which appears to delegate the responsibility for updating the mission in light of evolving circumstances to the Canadian military, without even the involvement of the government, let alone Parliament,” Mason said.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan told journalists on Thursday that the original mission was already debated in the House of Commons.

Canada & the Middle East: Jordan and Lebanon will be Part of ISIS Focus

This news is a few days old, but I had not gotten around to sharing it yet. Enjoy. 

Written by the Canadian Press: 

QUEBEC -- Canada's new role in the fight against the Islamic State will involve ensuring Jordan and Lebanon remain stable, Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion said Friday after a meeting with his U.S. and Mexican counterparts.

Dion promised that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will soon announce details of Canada's new deployment within the American-led coalition. The Liberals promised during the election campaign to end Canada's role in the bombing mission over Iraq and Syria.

Canada's role won't focus solely on Iraq, said Dion, adding "we will see what to do about Syria."

Dion added that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry offered suggestions about how Canada "can be more effective" in the coalition, whose members also include Britain, France and Australia."The two other countries we need to help to make sure they are stable, because they are so key for the region and are affected by the civil war in Syria and the situation in Iraq, and I am speaking of Jordan and Lebanon. These considerations will be in our plan."

"The goal of Canada is to redeploy our efforts in a way that is optimal," Dion said.

Trudeau has been panned at home by the Conservatives and other critics for his plan to end Canada's bombing mission, particularly after six Canadians were killed mid-January by a terror group linked to al-Qaida.

Kerry said he is "absolutely confident" Trudeau will ensure Canada continues to make a "significant contribution that will make a difference."

"While they (Canada) have made a choice with respect to one particular component of that effort (the fight against ISIS), that does not reflect on the overall commitment or capacity to contribute significantly to the road ahead," he said.

Kerry, Dion and Mexico's Claudia Ruiz Massieu also discussed other topics, including the economy, human-trafficking and climate change.

Friday's meeting in Quebec City sets the stage for a summit later this year featuring Trudeau, U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

The so-called Three Amigos were supposed to meet in Canada last year, but former prime minister Stephen Harper cancelled the summit.

Speaking in Spanish, Dion confirmed to reporters that Canada will eliminate the visa requirement for Mexican citizens imposed by the Conservative government, but gave no timetable.

Kerry noted that every day more than $3.5 billion worth of goods cross between the United States, Canada and Mexico.

"We have to continue to do more," he said, "to increase investment, reduce costs for trade, business, travel and make tourism easier without jeopardizing safety."

Cabinet Reviewing Options to Bolster OP IMPACT

Written by Robert Fife With a report from Campbell Clark, The Globe and Mail 

The federal cabinet is reviewing options to bolster Canada’s role in the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State that run the gamut from maintaining surveillance and refuelling aircraft to clandestine operations, military and government officials say.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised during the election to pull Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets out of the bombing mission but pledged a more robust training mission for the Canadian military.

Military sources, speaking on background, say General John Vance, Chief of the Defence Staff, has placed at least six options before the cabinet for vetting that include a substantial role for Canadian Special Operations Forces but also for the regular army.

Cabinet is expected to make a decision within the next 30 days.

“We have a lot of choices to make and we have our own means, and we must conduct a rigorous selection with the Minister of Defence, the Minister of International Development, the Prime Minister. We are looking at that very attentively,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Dion, told The Globe and Mail Tuesday.

Canada has 69 special forces training Kurdish soldiers and 600 Air Force personnel in Kuwait, where six CF-18s are based along with two surveillance planes and one refuelling tanker.

Sources say the wide-ranging recommendations to cabinet include:

• Retaining surveillance and refuelling aircraft in Kuwait;
• Sending up to 150 special forces to train Kurdish peshmerga fighters;
• Using regular Canadian army trainers for Iraqi security forces;
• Training Iraqi troops in nearby Jordan;
• Training Iraqi police and increasing humanitarian assistance;
• Using elite Joint Task Force 2 commandos in black ops in Iraq and Syria like Canada did in Afghanistan.

Military experts say cabinet is almost certain to accede to the Pentagon’s request for Canada to continue to provide its refuelling tanker and Aurora spy aircraft.

Retired Lieutenant-General Ken Pennie, a former commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, said Canada’s refuelling aircraft allows coalition fighter jets to operate 24-7 while the Auroras are outfitted with sophisticated radar and optical systems to identify Islamic State militants on the ground.

“The enemy forces out there don’t present a really easy target. They are hiding in schools and in hospitals. They don’t move around in large concentrated groups … so the Auroras are really value-added because they can find these targets,” he said.

Retired Major-General David Fraser, a former commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, said the proposal to conduct training exercises in Jordan would face opposition from the coalition and within Iraq.

“Politically, it makes a lot more sense to us because you don’t have to worry about Canadian Forces getting in firefights, but from an operational point of view the Iraqis and Kurds won’t like that at all.”

Mr. Fraser said Gen. Vance would almost certainly propose clandestine operations by Canada’s elite JTF2 commandos, although the Foreign Affairs Minister was quick to rule that out.

“We said very clearly during the election campaign that we wanted to end direct combat activities. So if that’s the question, it’s not part of what we are considering doing. But what is left to do is so enormous anyway, we won’t be short,” Mr. Dion said.

Mr. Dion said Canada can play a role in helping to stabilize liberated Iraqi towns and cities by helping to train police and local militias.

Regardless of what the government decides, Mr. Fraser said it’s unlikely to win Canada many accolades from the United States and Western allies whose fighter jet pilots are bombing Islamic State targets.

“If we don’t have our fighter jets, we are not going to have much of a voice,” he said. “We won’t get much recognition. Strategically, at the political level, we are going to lose here.”

OP PROVISION: Mission Details

Published by DND: Current Operations - OP PROVISION

Operation PROVISION is the Canadian Armed Forces’ (CAF) support to the Government of Canada’s initiative to resettle 25,000 Syrian Refugees in Canada by the end of February 2016.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is the lead department for Canada’s efforts with numerous supporting departments including:

• Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA);
• the Department of National Defence (DND);
• Global Affairs Canada (GAC);
• Public Health Agency of Canada;
• Public Services and Procurement Canada;
• Public Safety Canada; and
• the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP);
• The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) contribution

The requirement for military support, and the extent of that support for this Government of Canada initiative is still being assessed at this point in time.

The CAF is prepared to provide interim lodging for approximately 6,000 refugees at various bases and facilities throughout Ontario and Quebec, and an additional 7,000 at facilities across Canada, if need be.

Accommodations at bases and wings are but one option being explored to provide interim lodging to refugees as part of a broader Government of Canada initiative.

If requested, the CAF is prepared to provide interim lodging for refugees at the following bases/wings in Ontario and Quebec:

• Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Kingston;
• CFB Borden;
• 8 Wing Trenton;
• 4th Canadian Division Training Centre in Meaford, Ontario; and
• Garrison Petawawa; and
• 2nd Canadian Division Support Base Valcartier.

To date, approximately 200 CAF personnel have deployed to Aerial Ports of Embarkation (APOEs) in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan combined to support the Government of Canada initiative.

While tasks vary at each APOE, deployed CAF personnel are currently:

• Assisting the Canadian Defence Attachés (CDAs);
• Acting as Liaison Officers between the CDA and Canadian Joint Operations Command;
• Assisting IRCC with the administrative processing of refugee applications, including the collection of biometric data; and
• Providing a CAF command and control element.
• Mission Context

Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, millions of people have fled the country seeking safety and resettlement internationally. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, since the beginning of 2015, more than 720,000 refugees and migrants have crossed the Mediterranean, undertaking journeys from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, and other regions torn apart by war, hunger and violence.
Canada’s response

On 9 November 2015, the Government of Canada officially announced its commitment to welcome approximately 25,000 Syrian refugees from Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan to Canada by the end of February 2016, with an initial group of 10,000 arriving by 31 December, 2015.

The Government of Canada plan has five phases:

• identifying Syrian refugees to come to Canada;
• selecting and processing Syrian refugees overseas;
• transportation to Canada;
• arrival and welcoming in Canada; and
• settlement and community integration.

The Government of Canada is also working alongside non-governmental organizations including the United Nations Refugee Agency, the International Red Cross, and Canadian companies, charities, and service providers

Mission timeline:

9 November 2015 – the Government of Canada announced the creation of a new Cabinet ad hoc committee to help bring Syrian refugees to Canada.

Mid-November 2015 – the CAF deploys 12 personnel to assist Canadian Defence Attachés (CDAs) in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey and to act as Liaison Officers between the CDAs and Canadian Joint Operations Command.

28 November 2015 – the CAF deploys members of 2nd Battalion, the Royal Canadian Regiment based at 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown, to assist IRCC with the screening of refugees in Lebanon and Jordan.

As of 01 December 2015 – the CAF continues to deploy medical specialists and other personnel to assist IRCC in Lebanon and Jordan, as requested.

Previous CAF support to emergency humanitarian evacuations (Historical Precedent) 

Operation MAGNET (1978) - Following the collapse of the South Vietnamese government and the fall of Saigon in 1975, the Government of Canada through the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission and Department (CEICD) and the Canadian Forces arranged for the airlift and resettlement of over 50,000 people from Vietnam. Op MAGNET occurred in three phases from 1978-1981.

Operation PARASOL (1999) – The Canadian Forces was called upon to support the Government of Canada’s efforts to assist displaced refugees from the Serbian province of Kosovo. As part of Operation PARASOL, more than 5,000 Kosovar Albanian refugees were airlifted to Canada and temporarily accommodated at various bases across the country.


External links
Government of Canada

#WelcomeRefugees (Government of Canada)

Announcement of action on Syrian refugee crisis (IRCC)

Conflict in Syria (DFATD)

Canada’s response to the conflict in Syria (DFATD)
External Links

Syria Regional Refugee Response (UNHCR)

OP PROVISION: CAF Aid in the Resettlement of Syrian Refugees

A Canadian Armed Forces CC-177 Globemaster III aircraft departed Trenton in the early morning on November 28 with equipment and personnel as part of OP PROVISION, the CAF’s support to the Government of Canada’s effort to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada.

Canadian Forces personnel deploying on Operation PROVISION will assist Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada with the administrative processing of applications including medical screening and the collection of biometric data, as well as providing a military command and control element for Canadian Forces members.‎

Members of the CAF and the Government of Canada's Citizenship and Immigration Board Civil Servants on board a CC-177 Globemaster III en route to Jordan for OP PROVISION. Photo: CF Combat Camera

The Canadian Press wrote this article below about the situation:

A trickle of Syrian refugees seeking to leave Jordan flowed into Canada’s processing centre in Amman on Sunday, the first day of operations at what will eventually become the hub of much of the Syrian refugee resettlement program.

Ninety people were put through a multi-step process, some under the eye of three federal cabinet ministers who travelled to the Jordanian capital to see first hand how their plan to bring 25,000 Syrians to Canada by the end of February actually looks.

“We have learned also there is positive things to report in terms of progress,” said Immigration Minister John McCallum as he stood in the cavernous military exhibition facility now being leased to Canada by the Jordanian government.

“The processing centre had its first day of operation today, that will ramp up over time and get more intense. We also heard the good news that exit permits are not an issue in Jordan, so that’s positive.”

McCallum was joined by Health Minister Jane Philpott and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan. They flew to Amman late Saturday, spending the day meeting international aid and UN officials and Jordanian leaders on Sunday and then flying straight back to Ottawa.

Canadian reporters were not permitted to report on their visit until they left the country, for what officials said were security reasons, but both the UN and Jordan’s King Abudllah II posted word and photos of the trip on Twitter during the day.

Refugees whose cases are being processed at the Jordanian facility represent only some of the 15,000 Syrians the government is seeking to resettle itself. Applicants are being told to expect travel by the end of February, the deadline the government has set.

McCallum said it’s still an achievable goal.

“Let’s be optimistic,” he said.

Flights will depart from a civilian airport across the way from the centre carrying not just Syrians from Jordan, but also those from Lebanon.

But all the final details of how many and when are still being hammered out, he said.

“This being the first day there are a few kinks to work out and we also want to look at how to improve things,” he said.

An immigration official who briefed the ministers repeatedly noted how plans continued to change and develop, suggesting that while the centre’s goal is to process 500 people a day, that workload will be a challenge.

The reception point is ready, lined with rows upon rows of grey plastic chairs. The interview booths are set up with white tables and blue banquet chairs flecked with gold. The military has 10 biometric machines ready to go, though on day one only four were in operation.

But one key problem right now is capacity for medical screenings.

Officials are currently only scheduling medical appointments elsewhere until they can beef up availability of services on site. One option is getting the International Organization for Migration or the Red Cross to run clinics; the other is to have the military deploy a field hospital.

Privately-sponsored refugees — who make up the majority of the 10,000 people the government says it will resettle by year’s end — will not have their cases flow through the registration centre but are likely to depart on flights from the same airport. Those planes could begin leaving as soon as next week.

Those whose cases are being handled by the hundreds of Canadian civil servants and soldiers now in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, are refugees selected by the United Nations refugee agency from a pool the international body is actively looking to resettle. An estimated 4 million people have been declared refugees from the Syrian war.

Some will come from the Zaatari refugee camp, which the ministers visited earlier Sunday. They were briefed by the camp manager and aid organizations on the challenges at hand, including ensuring adequate water supplies and food for the camp’s 80,000 residents.

Philpott said she was struck by the scope of the issue.

“While obviously we’re all thinking about 25,000 who will come to Canada, we need to remember there are more than a million refugees living here in the country,” she said.

She’ll have a personal reminder to take back — both Philpott and Sajjan purchased paintings created by children at the camp.

The one Philpott chose was painted by a 13-year-old boy named Hamza and depicts a woman trudging up a set of stairs, with a yellow sun setting against a blood red sky.

On her back, a burden in the shape of Syria.

Philpott asked Hamza whom the woman represented, and he said no one in particular, just all women.

“Because women do carry countries on their backs,” Philipott said.

Many of the refugees Canada will resettle will be women, some alone, some heads of families.

The ministers observed several families being processed through the system Sunday, telling them through translators that Canada is excited to welcome them but didn’t have time to speak with them in depth.

One surprise confronting Canadians is that the families being referred by the UN are larger than expected. Rather than four or five people, it’s often eight or nine.

McCallum said he viewed that as a positive.

“I think given Canada’s aging population, not only are the children sweet-looking but they’re very good for Canada more generally speaking,” he said.

Since Nov. 4, 153 Syrian refugees have come and another 928 have been issued visas, according to the government.

(The article above was written by the Canadian Press)

Members of the Liberal Cabinet meet with UNICEF Staff at the Refugee Center in Jordan. Photo: CF Combat Camera

CAF Members Brief before deploying on OP PROVISION. CAF Members will aid Citizenship and Immigration Civil Servants in vetting Refugees before being granted access to Canada.  Photo: CF Combat Camera

Canadian Forces Trainers to head to Jordan

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will announce today that Canada will send Canadian Forces trainers to Jordan, in an effort to help one of the biggest Arab allies in the fight against ISIS. The announcement will come with the visit of King Abdullah II to Ottawa on Wednesday.

Canada will help train the Jordanian Special Forces in an effort to prevent ISIS from spilling over the Jordanian boarder. The training mission will be for the next two years, into 2017 - depending on the start date - which is expected to be announced today.

The two year commitment in military training, and equipment from 2015 to 2017 will give Jordan the ability to prevent terrorist activities, as well as increase the overall response to such activities.  Training will also include chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threat assessments and prevention of such attacks.

The exact location of the training is being kept a secrete for security reasons, but Canadian Special Forces were in Jordan last year as part of Exercise Eager Lion.

More News after the announcement.

More from the Globe and Mail news release: