OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government on Friday committed 600 troops and police officers as well as Can$450 million over three years to United Nations peacekeeping operations around the world.
Touted by the Liberal administration as a recommitment to multilateralism, the move positions Canada to make a stronger bid for a rotating seat on the UN Security Council.
Ottawa's "commitment to increase Canadian participation in UN peace operations and supporting its mediation efforts, preventing conflicts, and engaging in post-conflict reconstruction" will give Canada "a stronger voice on the world stage," Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion told a press conference.
A decision has not yet been made about where to deploy the personnel, Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan added.
Whereas his Conservative predecessor, Stephen Harper, sought distance from the United Nations as he pursued an independent and assertive foreign policy, Trudeau has signaled that Canada now intends to play an important and increased role beyond its borders through the New York-based global body.
According to government figures, 36 Canadian soldiers were deployed this year on UN peacekeeping missions in Haiti, Jerusalem, South Sudan, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Korea, down from a reported peak of 3,000 in 1993.
Trudeau also announced in February when he hosted UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in Ottawa that Canada would seek a seat on the Security Council, hoping to erase the humiliation of its first failed bid in 2010, which was seen as a slap against the previous Tory administration's foreign policy shift.
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