US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (unseen) on September 13, 2014 at the Fairmont Heliopolis Hotel in the capital Cairo. Kerry arrived in Cairo on the latest leg of a regional tour to forge a coalition against ISIS jihadists in Iraq and Syria. AFP

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday he expects Canada to state in the coming weeks what role it will play in an international coalition fighting ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

After Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to withdraw six fighter jets from a U.S.-led coalition attacking the militants, he yet has to announce what Canada plans to do once those planes are pulled out.
After meeting his Canadian and Mexican counterparts in Quebec City, Kerry told reporters that he is “absolutely confident that the prime minister and his security team are working on ways to continue their significant contribution” to the coalition.

“While they may have made a choice with respect to one particular component of that effort, that does not reflect on their overall commitment and capacity to contribute significantly to the road ahead, and we are confident they will,” Kerry added.

The Secretary of State said he is looking forward to the prime minister annoncing Canada’s plan in the coming weeks.

Furthermore, Stephane Dion, Canada’s foreign minister, said Canada was exploring other ways it could contribute to the coalition.
“We have received a number of requests, in particular from our American friends, and this helps us better understand how we can deploy our efforts,” Dion said.

Kerry and Dion said they would look up the issue in-depth at a meeting of coalition partners in Rome next week.

The three ministers exchanged views on Haiti’s leadership crisis and called on Haitian politicians to move ahead “as quickly and properly as possible.”

Thousands of supporters of Michel Martelly, Haiti’s outgoing president, have been taking to the streets in the capital, calling for prompt elections. Martelly. who is due to leave office on Feb. 7, has no elected replacement yet.

In the meeting, the ministers also tackled ways to work together in fighting the Zika virus, which has been linked to severe birth defects and is thinning out rapidly through the Americas.

Additionally, Kerry congratulated Mexico on the arrest of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, although he did not state when Mexico would deport him to the United States.

Guzman was caught this month after six months on the run. He had led a cartel that smuggled billions of dollars worth of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamines into the United States and fought vicious turf wars with other Mexican gangs.