Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, left, disembarks from a Canadian Forces Hercules relief flight as he arrives in Irbil, Iraq, on Wednesday. We see three men, all dressed in dark grey suits, coming down a gangplank with the innards of the Hercules behind them. Mr. Baird is centre left.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, left, disembarks from a Canadian Forces Hercules relief flight as he arrives in Irbil, Iraq, on Wednesday.
Photo Credit: Canadian Press / Ryan Remiorz

Foreign minister and critics continue Iraq visit

A high-level Canadian contingent continues its two-day trip to Iraq on Thursday.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and his two opposition critics in the House of Commons, the NDP’s Paul Dewar and the Liberal’s Marc Garneau, are in the northern city of Irbil.

On Wednesday, they were in Baghdad behind a curtain of security that included flak jackets, speeding armoured convoys and an escort of Iraqi soldiers.

Canada has pledged $10-million for equipment and logistics support for Iraqi soldiers and $5-million to support efforts to limit the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq and Syria.

Much of Iraq is in chaos following the relentless offensive by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.

Mr. Baird “barbaric” called ISIL beheadings of U.S. journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff “barbaric” and “horrifying.”

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