The U.S. urges Canada to get enough on the agreed 200-soldier peacekeeping army

Key takeaways:

Canada’s entire addition to the UN declines to a historic low.
A Canada flag patch and UN patch on a Canadian Forces member going for a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali from Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Trenton, Ontario.

The United States presses Canada:

The United States is urging Canada to send medical units and drones to United Nations’ missions at a peacekeeping summit in South Korea the following week and to come up with the 200-strong force first agreed upon four years ago.

The call came in a letter to Global Affairs Canada from the U.S. on the night of the high-level meeting in Seoul, where U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is anticipated to urge partners to restore their promise to peacekeeping.

That covers Canada. The Liberal government has been censured for failing to meet past promises and rhetoric promoting the UN with commitment and action.

The Nov. 8 diplomatic note starts by thanking Canada for contributing troops and police officers to peacekeeping missions, including its recent deployment to Mali. It adores Canada for raising the number of women used on UN missions. It also does it clear that Washington demands Canada to do more.

“We request that Canada commits to providing medical units and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to UN peacekeeping missions,” stated the letter received by The Canadian Press. Source – cbc.ca

“Additionally, we are aware that Canada committed to providing a quick reaction force to UN peacekeeping at the Vancouver ministerial. We urge Canada to fulfil this promise.” Source – cbc.ca

Canada received a high-profile peacekeeping summit — related to the following week’s meeting in Seoul — in Vancouver in November 2017.

There, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assured the 200-soldier force with military choppers and transport aircraft.

That happened two years of grand words from the Trudeau Liberals that Canada would hugely respond to peacekeeping, after years of refusing involvement under past governments.