"Peacekeeping" meant being neutral and standing between two parties that had stopped fighting. The peacekeepers were to provide an excuse for the two sides to stop shooting and to make it harder for them to start again without harming the troops from the usually inoffensive countries stuck in between then - Scandinavia, Austria, Canada etc. 

That is not what is happening in most UN missions in Africa. The UN has taken a side against various rebels. It is a participant in a small war and given the nature of the UN not a very effective one. Canada should have no part of it. The cost would be about $ 1 million per man per year. We would take some physical casualties and likely hundreds of psychological ones annually. We'd pay for the mission indefinitely. Canada would be associated with poorly disciplined UN and local forces who are as likely to abuse the local population as not. 

The gov't is right to get cold feet. A UN mission in Africa is a bad idea.