CBC;
O’Connor says the new government’s defence policy can be summed up in a few words.
“It’s about having a three-ocean navy, a robust army and a revitalized air force,” he said in Ottawa on Thursday. “Increasing the strength of the Canadian Forces to at least 75,000 regular force personnel is a clear priority. We will also intend to increase the reserve force by 10,000.”
Under this plan Canada will eventually have more than 100,000 full-time and part-time soldiers.
Damian Brooks is “impressed by both the content of the speech and the clear language”;
Integration is not submission, and those who paint it that way are either dishonest or uniformed. A seamless game plan for Canada and the United States focusing on areas of common interest that lays out who exactly is responsible for what is, without question, in Canada’s best interest.
Posted at the new military group blog – The Torch. Check it out.
Other reaction at Canadian Sentinel and Strong Conservative, Send a trackback if you have more.
CalgaryClipper:
Your point on recruiting older/ex-service personnel is good and we are doing it. One of my co-workers retired in 2002, but is now in Afghanistan as a Reservist.
The bigger problem is selling the Forces to the 18-25 year-olds, and this is inhibited by recruiting policies imposed on the Forces during the ‘Nineties, things like diversity and the need to recruit from certain groups for non-military reasons. Recruiting from immigant or other identified special groups is not a problem, having to recruit them to fill ‘quotas’ regardless of fitness to serve is a problem.
And then there is the perceived problem of ‘competing with jobs in a booming economy’. The real problem is that the Forces has allowed itself to be seen as just another Canadian business unit. We’re not. We offer excellent trades training, to be sure. But more importantly, we offer the opportunity to do your job in a variety of interesting places: sometimes in an airconditioned office with proper IT equipment; sometimes in a hot/cold tent with dust/snow blowing in, hoping the generator keeps going, listening for those special sounds indicating someone may not like you, a C7A1 within reach. Going out on patrol, carrying 20kg of kit, seeking to engage the enemy before he attacks you. Or telling a 22 year-old with two years in, that he is now in charge of the section and has to make decisions affecting the lives of others.
But first and foremost, because you are Canadian you want to serve Canada.
Cheers
JMH
OL HOSS
Thanks for the history lesson but, of course, I knew that. Why I didn’t point it out initially is because I believe it would have made no difference whatsoever to American actions. The fact that Canada had yet to be formally instituted is not pertinent to my observation.
Steve D. asserted:
“Besides, there is only one country that would,could and has attacked Canada. That’s right its the U.S.”
WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!WRONG!!!!!!!!
Nazi Germany, with U-Boats, on the East Coast and the St. Lawrence. Destroyed many ships; naval, commercial and passenger during WWII… from the History Channel.
Why didn’t we learn of this in school? Why do we not hear of it today? Is it a dangerous leftist coverup conspiracy? Have we been fed false leftist propaganda instead of our true history and military heritage? Did our people pay the ultimate price just so Liberals could lie to our faces every day?
Nazi U-Boats.
Blowing up our ships in our waters.
In Canada.
I didn’t make this up.
Also: attempted terror attack by Jamaat ul Fuqra in Toronto.
Just do the bloody research if you care so much for the truth.
It’s as easy as Googling…
Open your eyes.
‘Cause the MSM won’t tell you feck all about diddly squat, my friend…
Mr. Heinrichs, a major problem with recruiting youth today is that the Liberal regime saw to it that they were indoctrinated in non-militarism dogma as well as minimizing teaching of our military history, even covering up important events like I mentioned wrt the U-Boats (I never got that from History classes in HS). Hard to see the military as a possible career when one has been brainwashed by the left and all that, unfortunately. Besides, look at the recruiting posters. What are the models therein doing? Where’s the weapons? They look for all the world like folks at Public Works or someplace like that… not soldiers. These ads don’t tell youth what the Forces are about. They just show people fixing radios or whatever, not defending the most important gifts of freedom, democracy and the rule of law from those who hate it and want to take it away from us… yet again, which they will attempt sooner or later.
Time to promote the Forces again. Show the tanks, guns, fighter planes, etc… inspire the youth!
And I thank and honor you for your service.
As well, I’d like to invite you over to my blog:
http://thecanadiansentinel.blogspot.com
SteveD, you really disappoint me. I confess I do not understand where you are coming from.
You are talking about Canadian military personnel “swagger around” and about all of this antagonistic relationship between the elephant and the mouse.
Look, the US, Great Britain, and Australia, your natural partners, are locked in a life-and-death struggle with Islamic terrorism.
These terrorists have killed many Americans, British, and Australians, as well as other coalition partners. Terrorists are threatening North America with the possibility of covert cells, attacking publishers, and just the other day, Bush talked about an attack on LA that was thwarted back in 2001. The terrorists have killed people in the Netherlands, rioted for weeks in France, bombed London, Madrid and other cities, torture and behead people for kicks, and the “coalition of the willing’ is trying to stop them.
Thousands of Canadians volunteered to serve in VietNam with me and my military colleagues, and previous to that, Canada had an important alliance fighting against the Axis powers in World War II.
And what’s all this business about Canada needing a nuclear weapon to codify its place relative to the United States? We are your business partners and 85% of your trade. We are your partners in NORAD and willingly would risk our lives in your defense. A huge number of Canadian live and work and marry and raise families in the United States. There are plenty of Americans who are married to Canadians and live in Canada. (Meg, who frequently posts here and has her own blog, is from my part of the country and is married to a Canadian.)
A huge portion of your countrymen are aunts, uncles, parents and grandparents of US citizens.
In short, nobody is “swaggering around” here. We are trying to defeat a deadly enemy who threatens you as much as us. And we are not some antagonistic group — we are your friends and extended relatives, and we all need to work together to make sure that civilization doesn’t get pulled into the dark ages.
Now that was properly framed. New rule:
Nobody voices hate for the Country next door unless one has lived there six months or more.
Most discover that it’s not the people they hate at all, only the politicos and their spin. It’s a kind of trickery. TG
TG said, of a proposed new rule:
“Nobody voices hate for the Country next door unless one has lived there six months or more.”
I’d change that to:
Nobody voices hate for the Country next door. After all, it’s a serious criminal offense in Canada to express hatred of anyone based upon nationality… anyone, any number of anyones. I would assert that leftists who yap on like the tiny little nervous dog named Carolyn Parrish or the dangerous lunatic Svend Robinson, he of telling-the-IDF-to-F.O.-and-walking-past-them-at-risk-of-own-life infamy shall be incarcerated for violating laws against hate speech.
They wanted the laws; let them suffer the consequences they approved for their violation.
And the only ones “swaggering” are the ultra-extreme, anti-defence, appeasenik leftist imbeciles. They have a false sense of righteousness borne of being indoctrinated by elitist socialist fools who nevertheless enrich themselves illegally via the stealing of our hard-earned and easily-taken tax dollars…
Thank goodness these bastards where dethroned and are being investigated as we speak… to be subject to any appropriate criminal prosecution in the future…
“As long as they are the elephant in the world our country is protected because it is in their national interest to keep us stable.”
steve D, I’ve seen this sentiment from Candians before. The implication is always that America’s only interest in the Canadian people is strictly utilitarian, and that the only reason America would spill blood for Canada is to protect itself.
Frankly, this is a pretty unsophisticated viewpoint of the relationship bewteen the Canadian and American people. But let me ask you a question.
Are you saying that it is not in Canada’s interest for America to be protected? Are you saying that Canada would not lift a finger to protect American citizens? Are you saying that it is not in both America’s and Canada’s co-mutual interest for North America to be secure?
If America were being overrun by Islamic fanatics beheading our citizens and imposing a fanatical regime on our people, are you saying that Canada has no interest in coming to Americans’ aid? Are you that callow and inhuman?
The fact is that we have hugely important ties based on friendship, kinship, and mutual interests. Americans would die to protect Canada, and it would not all be simply because of a strategic interest. We hope that Canada feels the same.
Our friend Tony G (who incidentally has lived in America and know of what he speaks) has pointed out that Canadians quite rightfully get upset with American politicians.
Well, Steve, you’ve even had your now-deposed mafia prime minister actively using anti-American rhetoric to campaign. Do you think we love Canada’s politicians? You have the Carolyn Parrishes of the world cussing us out and stomping on action figures of our president, for the ghoulish slavering of Canadian leftists.
How do you think the American public feels about your politicians? I think you better re-trhink this whole dilemma.
…and, think of this:
Suppose America was under massive, continuous attack from the new Axis powers. Suppose also that this is simultaneously occuring in Canada. Considering that currently Canada is wholly incapable of repelling a massive, multinational war against itself, would America, with its hands already full repelling its own attackers, necessarily be able to spare much to come to the aid of Canada? If it were to do so, then its defences could be spread so thin as to give the Axis an unacceptable advantage…
It’s a horrible scenario to ponder, but it must be addressed in light of the false belief held by the brobdingnagianly stupid left that Canada doesn’t need to be capable of self-defence.
If no one thinks of these contingencies nor promulgates them, then the Free World will have failed to have seen the coming of armaggedon and could possibly lose…
And this is completely unacceptable. This is why I see appeaseniks and pacifists as dangerous subversives who must necessarily be ignored without explanation.
It’s important to see things coming… long before they arrive and prepare to deal successfully with them!
Is this really all that hard to understand, Steve D.?
People seems to forget about the ultimate sacrifice that our troops made in the name of freedom. Eight Canadian soldiers have been killed in the mission to Afghanistan, three by hostile action, one in an accident and four in a friendly fire incident. A Canadian diplomat was killed in an incident involving a car bomb in Kandahar.
For non military partisans let’s just put this one in context: A United Nations report in February 2005, concluded that Afghanistan remains one of the world’s least developed countries. It ranked 173rd out of 178 countries surveyed � beating five states in sub-Saharan Africa.
Out of every 1,000 babies born in Afghanistan, 142 die before reaching one year of age. A woman dies in pregnancy every 30 minutes. Overall life expectancy is estimated at just under 42.5 years. Do we need more reason to validate the reasons why Canada is involved in Afghanistan. I certainly don’t need more reason!
canadian sentinel and greg(in Dallas)
german u boats were not interested in Canada per se but rather in the materiel it was shipping to England. So i guess technically attacking our shipping is an act of war but i dont rate it the same as landing forces and physically attacking as was done during the war of 1812.
Neither do i look upon terrorists as equivalent to a mass army.
We dealt with Nazi germany properly.
We will defeat terrorists by doing the opposite of what the Americans are doing. Sorry Greg but your leadership is ignorant and incompetent. Perhaps you are among the majority in your country who agrees with me.
The first line of defense is an effective intelligence agency. Armies are useless against terrorists operating in small cells sprinkled throughout a country. Once you have identified the terrorist he is easily arrested by local police. You must also work diplomatically to ease the forces that cause terrorism. It is fed by perceived injustice lingering over a period of time. All people need to feel they are listened to and heard at least some of the time.
Greg if the USA ever needed our help we would of course be there. The American people are great.
Most, especially in the north east and west, are politically much like me. But there is a core of perhaps 30% that I feel have within them the ability to turn Fascist. Unfortunately, some of this core is composed of immense wealth and power. This force is over represented in the politico power structure. IF this powerful minority ever cranks up America like they have been over 9/11. Remember all power virtually was given to the president. The congress was a rubber stamp and the supreme court is now right wing. This situation has not played out yet but America is finally waking up.
The Administrative branch now has unprecedented power. If this trend were to continue the flood gates for abuse and manipulation of this power could lead to a dictatorship. Just imagine if suddenly around election time “terrorists” started striking often and hard. Why the president may have to forgo elections until this state of emergency was over. Meanwhile, opposition members could be found to be plotting and arrested etc etc. Perhaps this sounds far fetched to y0u but I have thought such things might be possible. Remember in the 1930’s some Fascist leaders of industry were plotting to take over the U.S. government. So there is historical precident for this kind of thinking.