Defence Minister, Harjit Sajjan said that Canada will continue to have a military mission in Iraq through 2017, but the size and scope of it have yet to be determined.
The defence planners have been spinning various scenarios for months, but the Liberal government committed — when it overhauled the mission against ISIS last February — to reviewing the deployment of special forces, helicopters, surveillance planes, an air-to-air refueling jet and a military field hospital.
Being affirmative about whether the military commitment would continue, Harjit Sajjan said, “We need to make sure that troops we have trained are up to the level where they can hold the gains they have made.”
He also added,”We entered when Iraqi security forces couldn’t hold the ground and do what they are supposed to do. So, the last thing you want to do is just leave without making sure you’ve answered that question.”