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Fuhr: We're not leaving

Kelowna-Lake Country's Liberal MP stands behind his government's decision to alter its role in the fight against ISIS.

Stephen Fuhr said the decision to bring home the CF-18's in favour of training, assisting and equipping makes a lot of sense.

"A majority of Canadians think we should have a military approach as part of a balanced approach. The debate is how to best do that," said Fuhr, from his office in Ottawa.

"The plan, to train, assist, and equip the Kurdish Peshmerga, the Iraqis fighting in that area, is a big deal. It's a piece they seem to be lacking and it's a piece for stabilizing the area."

We're not going to be there forever says Fuhr. The people left behind are going to need to know how to protect themselves.

"Canada is uniquely equipped to handle this job because we just spent 10 years in Afghanistan. We learned a lot of things there."

The plan calls for a tripling of Canada's current contingent of about 69 special forces trainers in conjunction with an end to CF-18 sorties in the region.

"It's not like we are withdrawing the CF-18s and now they're stuck, they're short. That's not the case," said Fuhr.

And, he said, while the Conservatives have been bashing the plan, the White House has come out in favour of Canada's latest plan.

"That kind of takes the wind out of the sails of the naysayers."



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