Roundup: More calls to keep the bombers

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ISIS forces launched a surprise attack against Kurdish forces in five different places in Iraq yesterday, and Canadian Special Forces trainers in the area helped fight them off, which did involve calling in air strikes from our CF-18s. No Canadians were injured in the fighting, but it did lead to a new round of calls, primarily from the Conservatives, to keep the CF-18s in theatre, regardless of the promise to withdraw them in favour of a more robust training presence on the ground. Some even went so far as to claim that if we didn’t have our planes in the area, our allies wouldn’t be as quick to respond to Canadian troops coming under fire (but that has been shut down by experts in the field right away). Michael Petrou remains unconvinced by Trudeau’s position on pulling out the CF-18s from Iraq, while Michael Den Tandt sees it as a kind of political calculation that isn’t so much related to pre-election promise, but rather the broader political implications of a ground war in the region.

https://twitter.com/michaelsona/status/677677335794073601

Good reads:

  • Trudeau had a big year-ender with The Canadian Press, and touched on topics of marijuana (not a cash cow), and that image is part of governing.
  • Trudeau said that his electoral reform plans are not about ensuring perpetual Liberal governments. Laura Payton delves deeper into his musing here.
  • Trudeau also said that he has “no immediate plans” to personally intervene with that jailed Saudi blogger, but Stéphane Dion did.
  • It was the last day of cross-examination in the Duffy trial. Closing arguments will be in the New Year. (Reevely, Blatchford, Köhler, and O’Malley here).
  • TransCanada filed a new, $15.7 billion plan for the Energy East Pipeline.
  • Here’s a warning about how Trudeau’s comments about Trump’s comments could haunt him.
  • Huffington Post has a lengthy interview with Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.

Odds and ends:

The Victims of Communism Memorial will move to the Garden of the Provinces, and the design process will be restarted.

The Canadian Forces had some $4.4 million in equipment that was stolen, lost or damaged last fiscal year.

Chatelaine has an interview with Rona Ambrose.