Anti-Media Staff

October 20, 2015

(ANTIMEDIA) Canada has a new government following the country’s federal election on Monday. The Liberal Party won in a landslide and dethroned Conservatives, who held the majority in the Parliament for four years. Canada’s current prime minister, Stephen Harper, resigned amid the results and will be replaced by Liberal Party candidate Justin Trudeau, pursuant to the new Liberal majority in Parliament.

The Liberal Party has vowed to end the prohibition of cannabis, but also ran on a much more dovish foreign policy platform. It seems that Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau was serious about his vow to remove Canada from foreign entanglements. Just hours after his announced victory, he received a phone call from President Barack Obama.

Trudeau confirmed in a press conference that during the call, he told Obama he would stick to “the commitments I have made around ending the combat mission.” One of those commitments is to withdraw Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets from the conflict in Iraq and Syria, effectively ending Canada’s fight against ISIS.

Questioned on whether the U.S. was worried about Canada’s support for the fight against ISIS in Afghanistan, State Department spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, “These are all decisions the Canadian people have to make and Canadian legislators have to make…and their Prime Minister [has to make],”

The Liberal Party’s sweep is, at least partially, seen as a rebuke of the Conservatives’ seemingly habitual support of U.S. military adventurism overseas.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article said the Conservative Party held a majority in Parliament for nine years. It has been updated to reflect that the majority lasted four years. It has also been updated to reflect that Stephen Harper resigned amid the results, not that he was “ousted.”

This article (Canada’s New PM to Obama: I’m Withdrawing Canadian Forces from Iraq and Syria) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.