Canada in the past has always played a major role in any NATO or UN peace-keeping operation. Iraq being a dominant threat to the west has always denied that it has weapons of mass destruction. The United States on the other hand insists that Iraq has weapons like deadly bio-agents and nuclear warheads that are capable of reaching North America. The US being a super power can single handedly take on Saddam Hussein and oust its regime from Iraq but a coalition of allies would be preferred choice. The first obvious choice for the US would be Canada; which has already played a major role in Afghanistan and in the Persian Gulf. The past conflicts in which Canada has taken part in have been different from which the US is asking for this time, as this time the UN or NATO have not approved it. In response Canadian leaders have not given the US a definite no or a yes in assisting them. The reason is that they are not fully convinced that Iraq poses a significant threat to the world for it to wage war against it. Canada, which has always played a role of a peacekeeper, has never gone on a mission that has not been backed by the NATO or the UN. .
Most important question that all leaders are asking to the US is the evidence, and how credible the evidence is. So far, most of the leaders, including Canada are not convinced that there should be an all out war on Iraq. The prime minister said, "At this moment we are not implicated in any plans for Iraq or other nations, " but later on said that any decision made by the UN or the NATO would be accepted by Canada. There has been no weapons inspection in the past 4 years in Iraq hence its not possible to perceive what is going on in Iraq. John McNee, assistant deputy minister of foreign affairs pointed out that due to no weapon inspection it is our first duty to get UN weapon inspectors back in to Iraq to get concrete proof.
Another reason why Canada should think twice before siding with the US is that an attack on Iraq would violate international law set forth by the UN council.