Canada to deploy military patrol plane to Japan [Video]

Canada will send a military patrol plane and approximately 50 personnel to Japan this month to support international sanctions on North Korea following that country’s recent ballistic missile tests, Defence Minister Bill Blair announced Friday.

While Canada routinely deploys CP-140 Aurora aircraft to the region, Blair announced the upcoming deployment during a bilateral meeting with Japanese defence minister Kihara Minoru in Tokyo, where the leaders discussed strengthening military ties between the two countries.

A statement from the Department of National Defence says Blair affirmed Canada’s commitment to bolstering security in the Indo-Pacific region, and “condemned the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s provocative and destabilizing actions in the region, including the continued testing and development of ballistic missiles.”

North Korea reportedly fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Thursday, according to a statement from the South Korean military’s joint chiefs of staff.

Blair said it is now …