MCC calls on government to end military mission in Iraq
July/August 2017 Issue No. 60
Quotation of the month“Training and equipping young men to fight does not seem like the smartest path towards a peaceful resolution in any conflict.” – Scott Taylor, editor and publisher of Esprit de Corps magazine.
MCC calls on government to end its military mission in Iraq
On June 29, 2017, Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland announced
that Canada would extend and expand its military mission in Iraq for another two years, until March 31, 2019. This announcement was made quietly and without any parliamentary debate. MCC has responded to this extension by calling on the federal government to end its military assistance to the region and the Global Coalition against Daesh (ISIS). Our reasons are: - the military mission does nothing to address the deeply-seated political, social and economic grievances that are at the root of the conflicts in Iraq;
- the mission to “train, advise and assist” Kurdish and Iraqi security forces lacks clarity,
with Canadian forces increasingly engaged in what appears to be combat;
- numerous human rights groups have reported that Canada’s military partners in the region – both Kurdish and Iraqi forces – have committed human rights violations;
- weapons transfers are feeding internal tensions, accelerating Iraq’s fragmentation, and finding their way into the hands of other militia groups.
MCC urges the federal government to invest in a comprehensive peacebuilding strategy that will address the underlying drivers of insecurity. Read the
letter and take action.
New policies galore
Over the month of June, the federal government released a surge of foreign policy announcements. These included: - Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland’s declaration that Canada will assert new leadership on the global stage
(in light of U.S. abdication of that role), not only through trade and multilateralism but militarily;
- Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan’s new defence policy, which dramatically increases military spending for personnel and equipment over the next two decades (in contrast to election promises);
- International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau’s release of the
new international assistance policy, focusing on a feminist framework for development and attention to issues of human dignity, economic growth, environment and climate change, inclusive governance, and peace and security.
Ottawa Office staff have prepared brief summaries of all these important announcements. Contact our office if you would like copies.
Take action: Say No to more military interventionCanada just renewed and expanded its commitment to the global military coalition fighting extremism in Iraq (and Syria). But more military intervention is not the answer to building a sustainable peace in the region Send a message to Prime Minister Trudeau, urging him to invest Canada’s resources in development, diplomacy and nonviolent peacebuilding.
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New resource: On climate changeWhat is the responsibility of relief, development and peacebuilding agencies in the global North like MCC to respond to climate change through support for adaptation, mitigation and advocacy for policy change? The latest issue of Intersections, MCC’s theory and practice quarterly, explores this question and others. Check it out!
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Staff updateIn June, Jenn and Rebekah—alongside MCC Saskatchewan staff—attended a special Ottawa showing of Reserve 107, a documentary highlighting a story of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous neighbours in rural Saskatchewan. This showing was hosted by Senator Lillian Eva Quan Dyck of Saskatchewan.
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