Mr. Speaker, I welcome this opportunity to engage in this debate. It is similar to the debate we had in June, when we discussed the scourge of ISIS and everyone condemned the atrocities of ISIS, or Daesh, as it is called.
At that time, I indicated that the government and the people of Canada stood together in solidarity with the victims of Daesh. By that I meant all victims, whether they were Yazidis, Syriacs, Chaldeans, Christians, Sunnis, Shias, or others in that particular part of the world.
Canada stands in solidarity with them. Our entire effort is to free them from this scourge.
I would also highlight the fact that the Minister of National Defence and the Minister of Foreign Affairs are both determined to eradicate this threat. Our government has taken substantial and concrete steps to degrade Daesh and to ultimately help the Iraqi security forces defeat this villainous plague themselves.
To no great surprise, I will take a bit of a military focus in this debate.
All members feel that the carnage and slaughter committed against these minority groups and communities by Daesh demonstrates an undeniable evil intent. No words are strong enough to reflect our opposition to Daesh's actions.
Less than a year ago, the international coalition campaign against Daesh was about degrading the entity. We are now talking about dismantling and ultimately defeating Daesh. This significant change of language is proof that the work Canada is doing with our allies, with our coalition partners, is helping to stabilize the Middle East and is delivering results.
As members of the House know, the Minister of National Defence has travelled to the region and has met with his counterparts. He came back convinced that an enhanced presence on the ground and increased engagement with local and international partners were necessary for resolving the crisis and restoring stability in the region. This is exactly what Canada has done.
All members of the House debated Canada's response to the crisis in Iraq and Syria back in February. Indeed, over 98 members of the House took part in a five-day debate. I consider that to be an outstanding show of parliamentary engagement and a notable exercise in the democratic process. We did this following a careful and comprehensive review of our options.
On March 8, we voted on a motion. Our collective view was unequivocal: Daesh has to be stopped and defeated.
The situation on the ground has evolved. It has become quite clear that we will only be successful in our efforts to counter the threat posed by Daesh through a combination of security, diplomacy, humanitarian assistance, and development.
Our air task force has remained active, conducting more than 2,507 sorties since the beginning of operations in 2014. Of those, 583 sorties were completed by our Polaris refueller and a further 600 were by the Auroras.
As Canadians are also aware, our government refocused the mission after the parliamentary debate, placing additional emphasis on training, advising, and assisting Iraqi security forces in their efforts to degrade and defeat Daesh. Subsequently, we upped our commitment to training, assisting, and advising by threefold and doubled our commitment to intelligence missions. In addition, we made available, to support the coalition, further intelligence and headquarters personnel.
The goal has been to enable the Iraqi forces to conduct their own offensive operations to reclaim their territory.
Members will recall that just two years ago, when Daesh started to take over Iraqi territory, Iraqi fighters were paraded in their underwear on their way to their own execution. That is against the rules of international combat, but in addition, it was a terrible display for all the world to see. It is not as if those soldiers were not brave people, but they were poorly trained people. Canada, along with our coalition partners, set about rectifying that so that now, when they are approaching the area of Mosul, they are much better trained.
As of this month, Daesh has lost approximately half the territory it once dominated in Iraq. The 40% of Iraq it dominated is now down to approximately 10%. That 10% is largely centred on Mosul. Members will have read in this morning's papers about the attack on Mosul. They are going about that attack in an organized, disciplined military fashion. We have, with the assistance of our coalition partners, upgraded the quality of the Iraqi security forces—