Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers remarks prior to a bilateral meeting with Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres in Montreal, on Wednesday, December 7, 2022. The United Nations may start questioning Canada's definition of "quick" after the Trudeau government gave itself three more years to deliver a 200-soldier force for peacekeeping. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
OTTAWA – The United Nations may soon start questioning Canada’s definition of “quick” now that the government has given itself three more years to deliver a 200-soldier force for peacekeeping.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first committed Canada to providing a quick-reaction force in November 2017 when he hosted a major international peacekeeping summit in Vancouver.
UN officials at the time welcomed the commitment, which coincided with Canada’s campaign for a temporary seat on the UN Security Council.
But Canada ended up losing that campaign, and six years later, it still hasn’t made good on the promise to deploy a quick-reaction force.
The UN and the United States have pressed Canada since then to create the force, and the Liberals insist it remains on the table.
But after having already given itself an extension last year on an initial five-year deadline, the government says it now has until March 2026.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 13, 2023.
