THUNDER BAY -- Bruce Hyer is unsure increasing Canada’s military role in Iraq is the right answer.
As of the weekend, the Thunder Bay-Superior North MP is unsure on how he will vote Monday on a resolution put forward by the federal government looking to create a six-month window for air strikes to halt the progress of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group in the war-torn Middle East nation.
“I’m quite torn,” Hyer admitted while in Thunder Bay on Saturday.
“On one hand what’s happening there is absolutely horrible. On the other hand it’s a quagmire and as we’ve seen interfering in Libya and interfering in Iraq before didn’t make things better – it just made them worse.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Friday in the House of Commons stated the Conservative government plans to commit military personnel and aircraft to join other nations such as the United States and the United Kingdom in the mission against ISIL.
It would see Canada have the potential to launch air strikes in Iraq, as well as Syria if requested by their national government.
He explicitly ruled out ground combat.
The United Nations estimates ISIL is responsible for more than 24,000 civilian deaths in Iraq thus far in 2014 and killed more than 1,500 members of Iraqi security forces in a single incident in June.
Videos of members of the terrorist group executing journalists and other hostages have shocked much of the world.
However, Hyer disputes the notion that Canada should get involved just to follow the lead of other countries. He remembers how the past Liberal government rejected the United States calls to join them in Iraq more than 10 years ago.
“I can see the pressure but there was pressure in 2003 when Jean Chretien decided not to go into Iraq,” he said.
What the deputy leader of the Green Party is certain of, though, is that he disagrees with how Harper has gone about making his decision.
“Instead of coming to Parliament and engaging in real debate and asking our opinions and weighing those opinions he makes decisions and notifies us and gives us a token opportunity to comment after the fact,” he said.
MPs are expected to debate the resolution Monday with Hyer eager to take part.
“I’m going to participate in the debates and listen to the debates on Monday and then make a very hard decision whether I’m going to vote to do this or not,” he said.
