Under the Liberals, Canadian government support for Kurds fighting ISIL ground to a halt
Canada has done plenty to “help, support and strengthen our local allies” in the Middle East, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said Friday. But over the past four years, Trudeau’s government has worked to slowly end support to those partners, specifically to the Kurdish people.
According to government reports and interviews with private industry, Canada has frustrated efforts to sell weapons to our Kurdish allies, while failing to deliver long-promised military aid.
Since 2014, Canada and other allies have partnered with local groups like the Kurds to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Canada began working to train and equip the Peshmerga in Iraq, while its fighter jets supported the YPG in Syria. Under the then-Conservative government, Canadian military aircraft carried equipment into Iraq, while private companies began exporting arms, mostly to the Peshmerga — nearly $2 million worth in 2015, and $1.3 million in 2016.
