Jason Kenney, Minister of Defence revealed on Wednesday this week that the US has been pushing for Canada to join its forces in deploying air strikes in Syria - mainly because of the RCAF's guided munitions.
The United States has made it very clear that Canada's precision-guided munitions, and expertise would be welcomes in Syria. This is because the several Arab allied nations who are also bombing in Syria do not have access to the guided munitions, or are unwilling to deploy them to this region.
The Minister of Defence did not say if the US actually asked Canada to join the US in Syria, but the option was left open. The US made it clear that they respect Canadian sovereignty and will respect whatever decision the government makes, while saying the RCAF would be a welcome addition to the air war against ISIS in Syria.
The precision-guided munitions the CF-18s are using are all completely US made and sold - and many other NATO allies (including France, Britain and Australia) also use them. NATO last year complained that they did not have enough available. Canada is the first Western ally to join the US-led air war in Syria.
The motion is expected to pass the parliamentary vote with the Conservative majority in the House of Commons.
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