National Defence committee  The mission right now and the parameters of the mission are familiar to all of you. We've been authorized for six months with the air element I've talked about, and the special operations forces. As the situation changes and advice is brought forward from the Chief of the Defence

National Defence committee  What I've certainly seen and been briefed on is that.... You have to remember that operations in Syria against the Assad regime by both the Free Syrian Army and a conglomerate of ideologically motivated entities have been going on for almost two years. Those troops, those ISIL

National Defence committee  We take every step in operations to limit that threat, both through the use of integral defensive equipment on our aircraft and on the tactics, techniques, and procedures we do. I'm not going to talk specifically about what ISIL may or may not have. Suffice it to say that in ev

National Defence committee  It's a threat we take very seriously, as I said. We will try to ensure that the aircraft are equipped to deal with those risks or that we plan mission parameters that ensure to the greatest extent possible.... I think it's important to say, though, that any part of our contributi

National Defence committee  I think any training that adds to the capability of our personnel is very valuable. I would certainly put the professionalism and capability of our CF-18 pilots up against any member of the coalition, without a doubt, and I say that very sincerely.

National Defence committee  Iraqi security forces are going to certainly have some challenges moving forward against a very determined adversary, which is motivated through barbarous ideology that in fact inflicts terror on those who are under some.... Their dispersion presents a different problem for groun

National Defence committee  I don't think so at all, Mr. Harris. In fact the effect that air power has brought to this particular conflict is clearly evident. I think it's accepted and would be expected by members here today that air power alone is not going to push back ISIL, but it is going to deny them

National Defence committee  The targets were engineering vehicles. I wouldn't be able to describe the level of armour; I haven't had a briefing that would allow me to say. But they were being used regularly by ISIL in the construction of a dam and defensive positions.

National Defence committee  I wouldn't want to hypothesize on what could have happened. But I think that if you look at the advance, just in the context of Iraq, that ISIL had enjoyed very quickly, this is of great concern; hence why so many regional partners have joined some of our more traditional partner

National Defence committee  No, I should have correctly stated that Canadians would have first heard about it then. I had heard of it prior to that press release.

National Defence committee  Perhaps I can just provide some context. All Canadian Forces personnel deployed are under the full command of the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Lawson.

National Defence committee  General Vance is the commander of joint operations command here in Ottawa. He is in charge of deployed operations in the Canadian chain of command. We're working in a coalition, a rather large coalition with close allies, which is a U.S.-led and coordinated coalition campaign ru

National Defence committee  Absolutely, Mr. Harris. First of all with respect to a coalition campaign, there is a shared joint view of the targets, in this case in Iraq. Those are prioritized against the objectives that may be in play at the time, in coordination with Iraqis. The tasking of missions, so f

National Defence committee  I'll certainly offer just a brief perspective, sir. What I saw in the first announcements of the strikes that had taken place on Sunday was through a press release by the Minister of National Defence. We coordinate very closely with allies and the U.S. command in the central com

National Defence committee  I can certainly try. While Canada has just started air operations, other coalition allies have been active for quite some period. You'll recall how quick the ISIL advance was into Iraq. In fact, the map I put up really shows their areas of advance towards their main objective, wh