What Role Does Canada Play In Canadian Peacekeeping
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Mission of Morality Canada’s successful participation in the earliest United Nations peacekeeping missions established their reputation as peacekeepers. This was demonstrated in the Opération des Nations Unies au Congo (ONUC) as Canadian peacekeepers were specifically requested because of their bilingual proficiency in French and English, their sacrifice and depletion of Canadian Army corps in order to supply peacekeepers to aid in the mission, and the action that was taken despite the threat of resemblance to the targeted Belgium people. Canada’s participation demonstrated their loyalty and willingness to protect the lives of innocent citizens. Firstly, Canada played a vital role in the ONUC, as many Canadian peacekeepers were able to communicate proficiently in both French and English. Since the official…show more content… Their multi-lingual capability had never been a vital request when participating in a peacekeeping mission. Therefore, the demand recognized the Canadian peacekeepers skill, other than trained combat, and their valuable participation in the ONUC mission. Secondly, Canada deployed Canadian soldiers to work as acting peacekeepers in the Congo though it depleted many Canadian corps. From a specific corps of the Canadian army, “Canada contributed about 500 men, principally logistical experts. Small detachments drawn from 200 Canadian signallers [Royal Canadian Corps of Signals] were scattered to UNOC units throughout the Congo during the four-year peacekeeping operation” (Zuehlke, 200). Providing greatly skilled officers to the mission in the Congo, despite the drain it had on the Canadian Signals corps, exhibited Canada’s willingness to aid in peacekeeping mission and their determination to solve the ongoing conflict. They sacrificed and risked their own army to make the ONUC mission successful. Thirdly, Canadian peacekeepers entered the Congo bravely despite the similarity they had to the targeted Belgium people, knowing the risk they faced.