ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Canadian government maintains its vision of a united Iraq in the face of the threat from the Islamic State (ISIS), and cites its own federal system as a possible model, the Canadian ambassador has told Rudaw.
Canadian ambassador to Iraq Bruno Saccomani was in the Kurdistan Region this week, his 14th visit since being appointed to the role in September 2013.
Saccomani – Canada's first ambassador to Iraq since 1990 – said in an interview with Rudaw that his priority was to reengage with Iraq, focusing on humanitarian assistance, development, and security.
This had manifested in Canadian Minister of International Development Christian Paradis making Iraq a development partner in May 2014.
This meant that when Mosul fell to ISIS militants in June, Canada was able to marshal an array of Canadian government foreign aid packages.
“I can tell you that Mosul falling did not change my strategic priorities,” Saccomani said. “The ISIS threat simply put more attention to some of the items which we needed to work on and one of those was of course safety and security.”
Importantly though, Canada saw movements like ISIS as a threat at home. “Canada has been impacted by radicalized movements,” he said.
ISIS took credit for inspiring two attacks on Canadian soil in October last year. In one, a man ran over two soldiers in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, killing one. In another, a lone gunman in Ottawa killed two soldiers and stormed the parliament building, before being killed.
“The Peshmerga is at the forefront of this fight,” Saccomani said.
Canada's military support has focused on providing the Peshmerga with basic training, as it is not yet a full modernized army, he said.
“If this is going to be a long campaign against forces of evil that are very tenacious, and if the Peshmerga is to work with the coalition forces, especially the airstrikes, there is quite a bit of enhanced capability that needs to be provided,” Saccomani added.
The mandate for this advise and assist mission – provided by 69 Canadian special forces troops – extends until April. Whether it would be extended past that time is currently being considered in Canada's capital Ottawa, he said.
Looking beyond the immediate crisis, Canadian companies should “absolutely” be investing in Kurdistan, Saccomani believed. “Everywhere you look there is a need for infrastructure – that's exactly one of the specialties that Canada has to bring to the equation.”
However, stronger regulation was needed to encourage international investment. “Canadian companies are risk averse, so we're trying to provide them with a regulatory framework that provides them with a certain sense of comfort.”
As well as helping improve infrastructure and regulatory frameworks, Saccomani believed that Canada could offer Iraq a model for successful federation.
Quebec has its own strong identity, but in the past Quebecers have voted in a referendum to remain part of Canada.
“When we first came here in September (2013), we weren't hearing much in Baghdad about federalism,” he said.
Now, he said, more Iraqi ministers were interested in Canada's experience.
“We've extended open invitations to their parliamentarians to come to Canada to look at our federalist system,” he said. “Maybe they're interested in taking some of those practices and incorporating them into a strong, united Iraq.”
