We Stand on Guard
Clearly the American rebuke of Canada has become a bit of a hot topic lately. I won't dwell on this too much as I recently railed about how many people in the Great White North, including our politicians, criticize the US because its a popular thing to do. Martin's little cheapshots are laughable... here's the man who promised to patch things up with the Americans and instead he insists on talking tough over any and every little issue not because it gets results, but because it makes him look good in the eyes of the people. Sheesh...
Yesterday the Conservatives announced their defence policy which is aimed at increasing funding for greater trooop levels and a more total sense of sovereignty. One of the big planks is the acquisition of heavy air-lift capabilities so that Canadian soldiers no longer need to hitch a ride on American or Russian aircraft and can get there on their own schedule instead. I've long been a part of the camp that feels that our military has been gutted far too long, and largely by the Liberals. While I was happy to see recent increases in the defence budget, the greatest in decades, there is little emotional support for our soldiers and what they actually do.
Firstly, we've gotta get rid of this notion that we are primarily peacekeepers and nothing more. Peacekeeping was a Canadian invention and while we've had a proud history in many parts of the world, we hardly share our load of the burden. The most current numbers I've seen have ranked Canada's paritcipation as 32nd overall... that's behind such countries as Bangladesh (the largest contributor), Senegal and Kenya. Despite our success in this area and our vast resources, peacekeeping hardly seems to rank as a priority for our country anymore.
Many will say that we definitely need a military, but we just don't want them fighting. Why? Fighting is dangerous and people get hurt, and even killed. While it is deeply tragic when casualties do occur, I think it's insulting to our men and women in uniform when all some people want to do back at home is ensure that our forces serve where there's absolutely no risk, and at the first sign of trouble, get them out.
I, for one, am glad that there is debate on what we can do to update our military policy and capability. I am very pleased that there are people who want to make our Forces proud again. It will be interesting to see where the discussion goes in the coming weeks as more of the Conservative defence platform is unveiled.
Yesterday the Conservatives announced their defence policy which is aimed at increasing funding for greater trooop levels and a more total sense of sovereignty. One of the big planks is the acquisition of heavy air-lift capabilities so that Canadian soldiers no longer need to hitch a ride on American or Russian aircraft and can get there on their own schedule instead. I've long been a part of the camp that feels that our military has been gutted far too long, and largely by the Liberals. While I was happy to see recent increases in the defence budget, the greatest in decades, there is little emotional support for our soldiers and what they actually do.
Firstly, we've gotta get rid of this notion that we are primarily peacekeepers and nothing more. Peacekeeping was a Canadian invention and while we've had a proud history in many parts of the world, we hardly share our load of the burden. The most current numbers I've seen have ranked Canada's paritcipation as 32nd overall... that's behind such countries as Bangladesh (the largest contributor), Senegal and Kenya. Despite our success in this area and our vast resources, peacekeeping hardly seems to rank as a priority for our country anymore.
Many will say that we definitely need a military, but we just don't want them fighting. Why? Fighting is dangerous and people get hurt, and even killed. While it is deeply tragic when casualties do occur, I think it's insulting to our men and women in uniform when all some people want to do back at home is ensure that our forces serve where there's absolutely no risk, and at the first sign of trouble, get them out.
I, for one, am glad that there is debate on what we can do to update our military policy and capability. I am very pleased that there are people who want to make our Forces proud again. It will be interesting to see where the discussion goes in the coming weeks as more of the Conservative defence platform is unveiled.
posted by Jason at 9:34 a.m.
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