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Procedurally, there is nothing preventing the Liberals from giving notice of such a debate with or without the opposition’s permission. Chagger’s office wouldn’t say why she isn’t going ahead.

Photo by Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

The Tories, who had reduced Canada’s participation in peacekeeping missions during their tenure in government, are keen for a daytime debate and vote because of the “very dangerous” nature of the mission, said Bezan. “We know that the base where our troops are headed to has been attacked in the past, and will likely be attacked again by the terrorist organizations operating in the area,” he said. “So we have the right to ask the hard questions of the government.”

“We are going to make sure they have the appropriate mandate, the appropriate equipment, and the right rules of engagement that will be set out by the Chief of Defence Staff to make sure they have the right of self-defence and, more importantly, for the protection of civilians,” Sajjan said in the Commons last week.

The mission itself, which seeks to help stabilize Mali after an uprising and coup in 2012, consists of 15,156 personnel, according to the UN. It is considered dangerous, with 166 peacekeeper casualties since its establishment in 2013, but whether Canadian helicopters would end up in a “combat” situation is a stretch, experts told The Canadian Press last month.

It was in a CP interview in December 2016 that Trudeau had said peacekeeping deployments would be subject to debate in the House, though he’d stopped short of saying there would be a vote.