Has violence become the most prevalent solution to peace? That seems to be the case with the change in Canada’s direction with international actions. In 1956, Lester B. Pearson, the Canadian secretary of state for external affairs, created the idea of a United Nations peacekeeping force in order to solve the Suez Crisis. (Bolotta) This was a major success and has carried on until today, where many countries are providing contributions to help keep peace around the world. Canada had a reputation of being one of most well-known countries for peacekeeping and this country kept that title high above their heads, but their recent involvements show a transformation from their previous peacekeeping status. Canada cannot be considered a peacekeeping
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Canada used to be one of the greatest contributors towards the United Nations and peacekeeping; they have fallen far from that position as their involvement continues to decline. Canada was once first in terms of world contribution out of the 193 countries in the UN, but as of recent, Canada has dropped to 65th. Furthermore, there are only 34 Canadian military personnel worldwide that are actively participating in peacekeeping missions; this is an all-time low for Canada. There was once about 3300 Canadian military personnel participating at one time, and Canada’s involvement in recent peacekeeping missions has been minimal. At a time where UN peacekeeping missions are at an all-time high and efforts from countries are critical, Canada continues to help nominally, only donating as much as $250 million annually. (Shephard) Moreover, the lack of involvement in world peacekeeping and the UN as well as the increased participation in aggressive NATO-led missions show Canada’s neglect towards traditional peacekeeping methods. Canada was once one of the most important sources of peacekeepers, having a total of over 125,000 Canadians who served in about 50 UN missions. (“Permanent Mission of Canada”) Instead of continuing on with the reputation of a peacekeeping country, Canada has taken the direction of …show more content…
There has been a large decrease in the number of peacekeeping missions that Canada participates in; the last major peacekeeping mission by Canada was in 2000 where 450 military personnel were sent to secure the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea. (Bolotta) Canada’s involvement had decreased drastically after failed missions in Rwanda and Bosnia. Furthermore, Canadian peacekeeping was shamed after the Canadian Airborne Regiment that was sent to assist Somalia in the 1990s, tortured and murdered a sixteen year old Somali teenager. This regiment was dissolved soon after, but it led to the declining participation of Canada in world peacekeeping. As well, the failed peacekeeping mission in Yugoslavia also contributed to this issue. In 1991, 1000 Canadian military personnel were sent to assist Yugoslavia after the republics had split. For the next three years, the Canadian troops worked hard to maintain peace, but it was ultimately a failure as peace did not exist before and was not wanted. (Webb) This lead to the increase in dependence on more aggressive strategies, as peace cannot be kept if it is not already there. Moreover, the Canadian military has been serving in the Afghanistan war in aggressive, head on combat missions for over the past decade instead of working to maintain peace. Thousands of Canadian soldiers have been
Canada used to be one of the greatest contributors towards the United Nations and peacekeeping; they have fallen far from that position as their involvement continues to decline. Canada was once first in terms of world contribution out of the 193 countries in the UN, but as of recent, Canada has dropped to 65th. Furthermore, there are only 34 Canadian military personnel worldwide that are actively participating in peacekeeping missions; this is an all-time low for Canada. There was once about 3300 Canadian military personnel participating at one time, and Canada’s involvement in recent peacekeeping missions has been minimal. At a time where UN peacekeeping missions are at an all-time high and efforts from countries are critical, Canada continues to help nominally, only donating as much as $250 million annually. (Shephard) Moreover, the lack of involvement in world peacekeeping and the UN as well as the increased participation in aggressive NATO-led missions show Canada’s neglect towards traditional peacekeeping methods. Canada was once one of the most important sources of peacekeepers, having a total of over 125,000 Canadians who served in about 50 UN missions. (“Permanent Mission of Canada”) Instead of continuing on with the reputation of a peacekeeping country, Canada has taken the direction of …show more content…
There has been a large decrease in the number of peacekeeping missions that Canada participates in; the last major peacekeeping mission by Canada was in 2000 where 450 military personnel were sent to secure the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea. (Bolotta) Canada’s involvement had decreased drastically after failed missions in Rwanda and Bosnia. Furthermore, Canadian peacekeeping was shamed after the Canadian Airborne Regiment that was sent to assist Somalia in the 1990s, tortured and murdered a sixteen year old Somali teenager. This regiment was dissolved soon after, but it led to the declining participation of Canada in world peacekeeping. As well, the failed peacekeeping mission in Yugoslavia also contributed to this issue. In 1991, 1000 Canadian military personnel were sent to assist Yugoslavia after the republics had split. For the next three years, the Canadian troops worked hard to maintain peace, but it was ultimately a failure as peace did not exist before and was not wanted. (Webb) This lead to the increase in dependence on more aggressive strategies, as peace cannot be kept if it is not already there. Moreover, the Canadian military has been serving in the Afghanistan war in aggressive, head on combat missions for over the past decade instead of working to maintain peace. Thousands of Canadian soldiers have been