Canadian Army Peacekeeping Mission to Africa

Canadian Army mission in Africa 'coming soon,' says defence chief

Canada's new top soldier says he has enough soldiers for peacekeeping, Iraq, Ukraine and NATO missions

By Murray Brewster, CBC News Posted: Jul 14, 2016 5:16 PM ET Last Updated: Jul 14, 2016 5:16 PM ET

Canada's new top soldier says the army has enough troops to carry out missions in Iraq, Ukraine, Latvia and whatever peacekeeping assignments the new Liberal government deems necessary.The statement by Lt.-Gen. Paul Wynnyk — who officially took over as commander of the Canadian Army on Thursday — will be put to the test very soon, as the country's most senior military commander said a new deployment to Africa was imminent.In a conference call Wednesday, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan publicly confirmed the Liberal government is considering participation in a number of United Nations peacekeeping missions. But just where and when a new deployment will occur is still being decided, he said.Gen. Jonathan Vance told dignitaries at the rain-soaked change of command ceremony on Parliament Hill that coming "very soon" there will be a capacity-building mission in Africa.'I don't agree that we don't have troops to undertake the missions we're looking at right now'- Lt.-Gen. Paul Wynnyk, new commander of the Canadian ArmyThe burgeoning number of deployments, either ongoing or planned, is not a problem, says Wynnyk, who until recently was head of military intelligence."If and when the government decides they would like us to deploy somewhere, the Canadian Army stands ready to deploy troops to that particular theatre."At the moment, the military has an assigned strength of 68,000 full-time members and 27,000 part-timers or reservists.

Troops headed to Mali?

There are any number of trouble spots in Africa where Canadian peacekeepers could be sent, but Mali is the one mentioned most often.A sizable portion of the country was overrun by Islamic extremists in early 2014, prompting the French government to launch a short, but successful campaign to drive militants out of the territory they had captured.Canada, at the time, played a supporting role with heavy-lift transports to get French military equipment into the western African nation.Documents obtained by CBC News under Access to Information legislation show the French government of Francois Hollande pressured the former Conservative government to take a major role in the UN peacekeeping mission that followed France's intervention in Mali.The request was discussed in June 2015 between former defence minister Jason Kenney and his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, according to the briefing notes.Part of the reason France was asking for the assistance is because of the high number of troops deployed domestically due to recent terror attacks.At the time of the call, up to 7,000 French soldiers have been tied down on home soil, putting "a significant strain" on the country's military.The Conservatives managed to stick handle around the request, partly because a peacekeeping mission in Mali would be considered a hazardous, if not dangerous, assignment, as UN forces have been the target of attacks, including ambushes and mortar fire.