so, this is literally a solution in search of a problem.
...and the media is criticizing the government for not finding the problem fast enough.
the absurdity just escalates.
i've been over this several times: the purpose of canadian peacekeeping was always to avoid the proxy conflicts of the cold war. various liberal governments, and especially his father's, were keen to avoid conflicts like vietnam, and so instead offered to provide logistical support in what amounted to empire building. a lot of the criticism on the left points to peacekeeping as this orwellian concept, and it's not exactly that it was ever wrong so much as that it always misses the pragmatism of it; it may be true that canada has been functionally occupying large swaths of africa for decades, but that's a better option than carpet bombing southeast asia ever was.
with the cessation of the cold war proxy conflicts, and requests for canadian contributions, the tactic of using peacekeeping as an escape tactic fell into disuse, as it should have.
the thing is that canadians see it as a source of national pride. it's more than national pride, even, it's existential. this is why the media is latching on to it, as an antidote to the lingering unpopularity and cynicism of the previous government - which lingers on in seemingly non-negotiable but very unpopular policy directions.
so, what trudeau is doing, here, is political. it's for internal consumption. but, it's misguided on both fronts.
1) the russians do not have presences in africa or latin america to counter. the functional value of peacekeeping as an escape is no longer existent. this is not going to appease trump the way it appeased nixon.
2) thanks to the effects of koch brothers propaganda, canadians under the age of 70 don't have the same attachment to the idea of a global police force that they once did. to young people, this is globalism. it's the new world order.
i don't know how to get out of the obligation to participate in the colonial project, at this point. the liberals are going to have to put their brains together and think something up. maybe, we could contribute to an anti-terrorism force. and, what africa needs, today, is engineers. but, i do know that this is likely to backfire, as a pr tactic.
it's an idea whose time has passed.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/05/12/trudeau-says-government-taking-appropriate-time-to-decide-peace-mission.html