OTTAWA — Opposition Conservatives used Justin Trudeau's first question period as prime minister to hammer his plan to withdraw CF-18 jetfighters from the bombing campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.
Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose says the extremists who have overrun vast swaths of Syria and Iraq are part of a death cult that sells women and children into sexual slavery and murders religious minorities.
She wonders how bad it has to be for the Liberal government to keep the jets in the fight.
Trudeau says Canadians spoke during the election campaign and they want to see the mission refocused towards more long-lasting results, such as training security forces.
The government has yet to define what sort of military training commitment it will make, although last week at a NATO conference, Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion said the Italians have expressed interest in partnering with Canada to conduct police training in northern Iraq.
