OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Canada is responding to U.S. requests for help in Iraq, not the other way around.
And he says whatever role Canada ends up playing, it will do so with "no reluctance" because the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant poses a significant threat to Canadian security.
Harper's comments follow confirmation from the U.S. ambassador to Canada that it's Washington asking Canada to expand its role in the Middle East.
Bruce Heyman says the sequence of conversations and communications between the two countries — who asked what of whom — is of no matter.
Heyman tells The Canadian Press that Canada and the United States have had ongoing conversations at the highest levels about how to collaborate on the crisis in northern Iraq.
He's responding to media reports that suggested, contrary to what Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in New York this week, that Canada was the instigator in seeking to ramp up its role in Iraq.
"I find this kind of bizarre," Harper said Friday when asked about the controversy. "Is this seriously suggesting that Canada is dragging the U.S. into military conflict? Let's be serious here."
Then he did: "I don't want to convey for a second that we do this reluctantly," Harper continued, noting the severity of the threat ISIL poses to Canada. "This phenomenon is a direct threat to the security of this country."
Harper touched off a firestorm when he revealed the U.S. had recently asked Canada to expand its role in the battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
A Global News report Thursday, however, suggested that the U.S. request was actually in response to a Canadian overture to play a more significant role.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said that if Canada were to contemplate playing a combat role, such as participating in airstrikes, it would be subject to a vote in Parliament.
