Battlefords-Lloydminster MP Gerry Ritz has made known his support for Canada's participation in a combat role against ISIS.
Ritz was part of the Conservative majority in Parliament that voted in favor of joining 40 other countries in a US-led coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also commonly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.
The Harper government intends to send Canadian aircraft in to participate in the air strikes in the region against ISIS/ISIL. Six Canadian CF-18 fighter planes are being sent as part of the mission, along with some other aircraft and continued assistance.
In a statement Tuesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper reassured Canadians there would be no Canadian troops on the ground.
"To be absolutely clear, Canada's engagement in Iraq is not a ground combat mission," Harper stated. "It includes a number of targeted measures, being taken with allies, to severely limit the ability of ISIL to engage in full scale military movements and to operate bases in the open.
"We do not take this step lightly. The threat posed by ISIL is real. If left unchecked this terrorist organization will grow and grow quickly. They have already voiced their local and international terrorist intentions and identified Canada as a potential target. It is imperative that we act with our allies to halt ISIL's spread in the region and reduce its capacity to launch terrorist attacks outside the region, including against Canada."
Debate in Parliament lasted two days and finally ended with the government's motion passing 157-134.
As anticipated, the opposition New Democrats and the Liberals all opposed the motion.
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau had earlier made known the Liberals supported a humanitarian role, not a combat one.
"The Prime Minister has not been upfront with Canadians about his plans," Trudeau said in a statement last week. "The Prime Minister and the government have given us no reason to believe that once in combat they will be able to limit our role. Their overheated and moralistic rhetoric is being used to justify more than just air strikes. It is an attempt to justify a war."
NDP Opposition leader Thomas Mulcair also preferred a humanitarian role and was especially critical of the government for being unclear on what the mission would entail.
"Time and again, Conservatives have refused to answer clear questions and been evasive on critical details of this mission. It is impossible to have confidence in the judgment of a Prime Minister who sends Canada into an unclear mission for an unspecified period, in an undefined area, with uncertain utility," said Mulcair in a statement Tuesday after the vote.
In a statement from Ritz Tuesday, he pointed to a million Iraqis already displaced by the conflict and cited the danger to Canadian aid workers in particular, adding "with circumstances degrading quickly, the danger to our aid workers is real, therefore a two pronged offensive is required."
"Iraq has requested the help of the US and its allies to help root out the ISIS cancer that has taken hold and threatens global stability," Ritz went on.
"It would be a mistake to downplay the gravity of the situation. These terrorists are creating a proto-state, a place where they can train for attacks against the west, including Canada. It is a place where journalists and humanitarian workers, are beheaded on camera. It is a place where women and girls are auctioned off in slave markets, and the heads of minorities are mounted on spikes in town squares. It is a place where the medieval arrogantly confronts the civilized. Do we really want to sit back and do nothing while these radicals plunder, torture, and kill anyone who questions them?"
Ritz also responded to opposition critics who wanted Canada to play more of a peacekeeper role.
"Should we sacrifice the safety of our front line personnel because we would rather be known as a peace keeping nation? When there is peace, we will help keep it, when there are atrocities, we will send our military to defend the helpless.
"We are at a precipice," Ritz concluded."Do we sit on our hands and let other countries shoulder the responsibility of quelling the terrorists. ISIS has threatened Canada directly. All the evidence I've seen suggests we must take the fight to them before they bring their fight to us."
