Minister, my question is on the peacekeeping force. First of all, I want to thank you for all the work you do, especially for us in B.C.

In two weeks, Vancouver will host this year’s United Nations Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Conference, where the world’s contributors to peacekeeping meet every year. However, despite hosting this event, Canada’s contributions to peacekeeping have fallen to their lowest point in 30 years.

As of last Tuesday, Canada had only 68 active peacekeepers deployed abroad, of which only 28 were Canadian Armed Forces members. This is far from the 600 Canadian Armed Forces and the 150 police officers that the government had promised last year.

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I believe, minister, it would be an embarrassment for Canada to host the UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Conference in our city without making any real contributions to peacekeeping. We cannot afford to keep making promises to re-engage with UN peacekeeping without taking action; the cost of non-participation is too high.

Minister, we know how important it is to have peacekeepers. You have worked as a peacekeeper yourself. Minister Sajjan, the time is now. When and how are we going to engage our peacekeepers?