Mr. Speaker, a request was made some time ago by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to have much larger contingents of troops in the area than the one that is currently there. Unfortunately so far very few countries have responded positively.
Although Canada at some point was wondering whether we were pursuing peacekeeping missions, we have agreed to commit the same level of troops, close to 2,000 soldiers, serving under the UN for another six months.
Clearly we believe that our own effort is taxing our troops substantially. Canada would like to see other countries respond more quickly to the UN secretary's request. Unfortunately this has not taken place.