Mr. Chair, I would like to take a few minutes to outline where Canada stands in terms of peacekeeping. Many Canadians, I suspect, would believe that we are still prominent players in peacekeeping, but this is far from the case.
Having previously ranked among the top 10, Canada now ranks 50th among the 95 countries providing military personnel for UN missions. During the same time period, Canada devoted only $214.2 million, or 3% of spending on international military operations, to UN operations.
There are currently 64,322 military personnel participating in UN missions around the world and only 59 of these military personnel are Canadian. Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Jordan, Nepal, Pakistan and Uruguay now have far greater troop contributions than many NATO countries. Canada is not alone in having virtually abandoned UN peacekeeping. Most western middle power states now contribute very little to UN missions.
I am wondering if we have now given up on peacekeeping. Could the minister state what the government's position is in regard to this decline in Canadian participation in UN peacekeeping missions?