Canada needs blue berets again

Once the country that helped invent modern peacekeeping, Canada now contributes fewer peacekeepers than dozens of much smaller nations. 
The world desperately needs more countries willing to deploy under UN mandates, support civilian protection, assist fragile states, and prevent conflicts from escalating into wars that ultimately require much larger military interventions, writes Lindsay Mathyssen.DND photograph by Corporal Ken Beliwicz
Opinion
BY LINDSAY MATHYSSEN
August 10, 2026

As Canada embarks on its largest military expansion in a generation, an uncomfortable question hangs over our foreign policy: what kind of leaders do we want to be?

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