New U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis reached out to Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan Monday to lay out the groundwork for their relationship going forward.
“I was the first minister he called and I told him how honoured I was with that,” Sajjan told reporters at the Liberal cabinet retreat in Calgary Monday.
Sajjan said the pair didn’t talk about Canada’s future peacekeeping mission but did discuss “mutual threat to our countries which is Daesh.”
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The Trudeau government was expected to announce a new peacekeeping mission by the end of 2016 but has yet to do so.
“Canadians expect us to make sure that we get the decision right,” Sajjan said. “I was hopeful to get it done by the end of the year, but we don’t want to be set on a timeline and make a decision that does not look at all the factors.”
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The defence minister was asked if he would discuss future peacekeeping missions with his U.S. counterpart and he said it was a no-brainer.
“We have to discuss this because we need to maximize our impact on the ground,” Sajjan explained. “When we have missions, whether it’s a U.N. mission or whether it’s a NATO mission or whether it’s a coalition.
“It’s about being able to maximize our efforts together so that we can bring stability.”
The two have yet to set a date for their first mission but Sajjan expects it to be sooner rather than later.
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Mattis also spoke with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday to highlight the importance he places on the military alliance.
“The two leaders discussed the importance of our shared values, and the secretary emphasized that when looking for allies to help defend these values, the United States always starts with Europe,” Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said in a statement regarding the call.
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