Why are the parties divergent on the biggest threat?

“ISIS continues to present a serious threat to global and regional security, including by directly threatening Canadian citizens at home and abroad.

“The fact that if ISIS can call on more sympathizers to inflict acts of terror, it makes the threat more serious.

Last week the House of Commons voted to extend Canada’s fight against ISIS, giving the military a green signal to bomb targets in Syria and Iraq until March 2016. Canada’s Special Forces will also continue to advise and assist Iraqi security forces who are combating ISIL on the ground.

It’s more than evident that there are mass acts of violence taking place against civilian populations in Syria and Iraq and that their governments are unable to protect their civilians. The situation does call for the international community to respond responsibly to protect. Canada and other countries are signatories to the genocide convention and do have a legal responsibility to act in a case where it’s seen as a just war, where there is an overriding moral principle, humanitarian principle, to take action.

Defence Minister Jason Kenney during his address to the Members of the Parliament expressed that “We hope that our engagement against ISIS is restricted and discreet. But the broader picture of these organizations does constitute a global security threat that we can’t ignore.” He clearly stated that the concern of the nation in simplest of the words. Minister acknowledged that allies can’t get rid of all terrorist organizations. But he stated, what they should do is “avoid permitting the folks motivated by this ideology to build their own states from which they can operate with impunity.”

Canada prefers diplomacy and peacekeeping. Peacekeeping is best required when there is peace to be kept. ISIS has carried out a brutal and barbaric campaign of slaughter and intimidation in Iraq and Syria against innocent people of all ages and gender, and vulnerable religious and ethnic minorities. They have used children as suicide bombers. They have crucified, buried and burnt people alive who refuse to embrace ISIS barbaric ideology. ISIS continues to present a serious threat to global and regional security, including by directly threatening Canadian citizens at home and abroad.

Public support for Canada’s decision is overwhelming, though the opposition parties are trying to present a divergent view. NDP has opposed the move saying “it is not our war.” NDP can’t and shouldn’t fail to acknowledge that ISIS is actively reaching out, recruiting and urging home-grown terrorists to take up arms on home soil. Last fall two such home grown terrorists embraced the “cause” of ISIS leading to killing of our soldiers, and their families were left grieving. ISIS has declared war on Canada.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May feels that these were isolated incidents that the two soldiers killed in October were killed by crazy individuals and that Canada is not actually at war. Elizabeth May told The House that what’s happened to Libya post-intervention shows that military actions can have unintended consequences. “I believe we made matters worse in Libya,” May said. “We run a very high degree of risk of making things worse by emboldening ISIS, by creating greater recruits to ISIS,” May added. Elizabeth May needs to be made aware of the fact that if ISIS can call on more sympathizers to inflict acts of terror, it makes the threat more serious.

NDP has expressed that Canada should put in effort on humanitarian aid. However, humanitarian aid can only happen once those areas are made free of the control of ISIS.

ISIS is a threat not only for Canada, but also to the allies, regional partners, and if not handled in an apt manner may soon become a threat to the world. We cannot ignore the fact that ISIS has declared war on Canada. These terrorists are a threat to the Canadian institution s of democracy ,freedom, and the rule of law; and parties should make a judicious decision on the same.