Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has paid a visit to a front-line combat post in northern Iraq to start his second day in the war-torn country.
Baird and two opposition MPs got to about 1,000 metres from about 150 fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS, the al-Qaida splinter group waging a relentless offensive across this region.
The minister climbed to the bunker position and surveyed the landscape, and was briefed by Rowsch Nouri Sharways, the Iraqi deputy prime minister.
Baird described the visit to the fortified Kurdish Peshmerga position as an eye-opener, saying that being so close "puts it in perspective, for sure."
"It's not just an abstract problem taking place in a distant land, it's right in front of your eyes," he said.
"The horrifying thought is to see all these tents that came with all the families that were forced to leave their home, the horrific circumstances to have to be here."
Baird later issued a statement praising the Kurds.
Bashar Warda Chaldean, the archbishop of Erbil, gave Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird a tour of St. Joseph's church in Erbil, Iraq on Thursday. (Rebecca Collard)
"By offering safe haven to over 850,000 displaced persons internally and by engaging in direct combat with ISIL forces, the Kurdish people have shown the world their strength and their commitment to pluralism and peace," said Baird. "Canada stands by the security forces in Iraq, including the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, in achieving this goal."
Baird also announced another $7 million in humanitarian assistance for relief supplies, emergency shelter and health care for thousands of civilians displaced by the fighting in northern Iraq.
He also met the bishop of Chaldean Catholic Church and other clergy in the regional capital of Erbil, as well as making a stop at the palace to meet the Kurdish president.
The minister also toured displaced persons camps and had conversations with numerous people.
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