By Chris Thatcher | March 20, 2018 Estimated reading time 4 minutes, 39 seconds.
Canada will deploy an aviation task force to Mali later this year as part of a larger pledge to recommit troops and resources to international peacekeeping, the government announced on March 19.
The task force will provide tactical transport and logistic support to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) for at least 12 months. Approximately 250 personnel along with two CH-147F Chinook and four CH-146 Griffon helicopters will be deployed to what has been called the UN’s most dangerous mission.
The final composition of the aviation detachment must still be negotiated, the government said. Fifty-seven countries are currently part of the UN effort to stabilize the country and the Sahel.
The Chinooks from 450 Tactical Helicopter Squadron in Petawawa, Ont., will be used to ferry UN troops and supplies while the Griffons will offer some transport as well as armed escort and protection. No details were provided on which Royal Canadian Air Force tactical helicopter squadron would lead the aviation detachment or supply the Griffons.
Key enablers such as helicopters “are extremely important to missions like this,” said Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.
The commitment fulfils one of three pledges made by the federal government during the UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial conference in Vancouver in November 2017. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also committed to the creation of a Quick Reaction Force and to supplying tactical airlift support to resolve transport and supply issues in various UN missions. The government is currently in negotiations with the UN to provide tactical airlift capabilities to the organization’s operations in Entebbe, Uganda, which could begin as early as this summer.
“We received a direct request from the United Nations to help out with logistical and support helicopters in Mali to support our allies, to support the UN mission there, and we’re looking at the best way we can do that,” said Trudeau.
Since MINUSMA began in 2013, over 160 peacekeepers have been killed, making the mission the UN’s deadliest. In announcing Canada’s commitment, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland acknowledged the risk.
“This contribution to the UN is not a decision we have taken lightly,” she said, adding that the Canadian Armed Forces will begin mission planning with the UN and Mali in the coming weeks.
“In general, there is an environmental risk of just being there for sure,” Gen Jonathan Vance, chief of the defence staff, told reporters. “We mitigate that with strong force protection, strong skills.”
He noted that only four of the over 160 casualties were associated with helicopter incidents, and “all of those had to do with mechanical failure of the aircraft and not with enemy or belligerent fire.”
“This deployment builds on our significant development and security programming in the region and reflects our continued commitment to support stabilization and sustainable peace in Mali,” said Freeland. “Last November, we announced more than $8 million to support the implementation of the peace agreement and many other peacebuilding initiatives aimed at reinforcing social cohesion and the protection of civilians in that country.”
Why are we risking Canadian lives in the old world with out dated helicopters? What does this mission accomplish? How many young men and women do we have to lose? Have we not learned our lessons from Afganistan?