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RCAF personnel and Canadian special forces have played the key roles for Canada’s Iraq mission so far.

But there are reports that the Liberal government could be looking at a deployment of up to 300 military personnel to conduct training.

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If they proceed with that number there could be a role for the regular Canadian Army to play in Iraq.

A Canadian Army deployment would dovetail into some of the Liberal government’s messaging on the future mission. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan have repeatedly used the example of the Canadian Army in Afghanistan to explain that Canada has specialized expertise in training foreign forces.

There had been an earlier view that the Canadian Army could take too long to get its training personnel into position. But if larger numbers are required, then the government might not have a choice as special forces tends to provide its capabilities in smaller numbers/training packages.