There is no doubt that Mali needs support and the fight against Islamist extremists is a good fight.  But really, is this where Canada should be taking a stand?  And if the fight is against extremism, shouldn't it be a full combat mission including the ability to take aggressive action? 
We should never send our troops into another situations where that can't engage the enemy with  defensive fire until fired upon and were the lawyers determine whether a target should be shelled.  
At the white school house in Afghanistan (abandoned as a school house years before) Canadian troops were wounded, and I believed, killed because the lawyers wouldn't let our artillery and US fighter bombers takeout that Taliban stronghold. 
Using Canada's troops as a prop for political purposes is just plane wrong.