National Defence committee  I think the global compact is aimed at finding a balance between responding to a humanitarian need with 60-plus million people on the move in the world today, and not all of them are going to be able to go back. They need to have pathways to resettle in places that allow them to

National Defence committee  If there was one thing I wish Canadians would understand about our strategy, it would be that it's not all about sending some helicopters to Mali. As important as that is, the focus of our effort is to try to make a difference system-wide by impacting the number of women particip

National Defence committee  Could I just start by saying that among the lessons we learned along the way in places like Afghanistan was that training can take place in a number of different environments. Sometimes it's suitable to bring people to Canada. Very often it's more beneficial to do it in the field

National Defence committee  It adds to our credibility when we take on tough assignments, such as the helicopter deployment in Mali, when we're doing some of the so-called heavy lifting, as well as some of the attempts to do institutional change.

National Defence committee  Let me answer by saying that how we're doing some of the elements of our strategy is very innovative. What we're doing derives exactly from these various high-level reports that have been done on UN peacekeeping. Our strategy is responding to these independent reports about what

National Defence committee  Well, why Africa? Close to 70% of the UN's peace operations missions are in Africa. Invariably, if you want to make a difference in peace operations, you're more than likely going to have to do it in Africa. Secondly, why Mali? Mali is where our requirements, our specialized ca

National Defence committee  As I said, I think it was a match. The government decided on what it felt was Canada's value added, the kind of capabilities that were badly needed to make a difference. The UN decides on its gaps and its requirements. It just happened that, in Mali, one major gap was opening up

National Defence committee  I think the answer is both. We certainly have noticed that some of the troop-contributing countries deploy people and battalions in the field that aren't ready to take on these kinds of challenges because they're not properly trained to do so. That's why our strategy includes ado

National Defence committee  This is one of the areas of the UN that we are trying to address to raise their game in terms of the kinds of training that the troop-contributing countries will receive before they go into the field.

National Defence committee  May I add that Canada has taken over responsibility for a three-year training program in support of the United Nations. It's called the UN Leaders Programme, and it's in that program that we take in senior-level officials and military representatives from countries around the wor

National Defence committee  No, I wouldn't say the decline is the result of a shift in policy. I think the policy has taken some time to be put in place, and now that the policy is in place, you will see an augmentation across the board.

National Defence committee  I'm not sure I want to answer in a short period of time what's happened over several decades. I would go back to my statement, in which I tried to make clear that the number of Canadian boots on the ground isn't where we're trying to make a difference. We're trying to make a syst

National Defence committee  Yes, but we also realize that Canada's discreet contribution to this mission or that is much less impactful than if we can make a difference by training some of the countries that contribute thousands upon thousands of troops. In making them better and more professional in terms

National Defence committee  I think it's fair to say that yes, western developed countries, in overall numbers, have all gone down over time, because the global south and China have become more and more prominent in terms of contributing the so-called boots on the ground. What has emerged as a consensus is

National Defence committee  As General Bowes mentioned, very positively. Countries are very eager to have more of Canada: more Canadian Armed Forces, more police, more diplomats, and more civilians.