#2 Foreign Policy and Canadian Armed Forces

At the present time it must be recognized that the self-defense of Canada is not possible. Any attempt to respond to a sustained attack on our country could not be contained without help. This opens up a Pandoras box of alternatives. Central to any policy to do with our Armed Forces must be the impact it will have on our sovereignty and that runs full tilt into the anti-Americanism that has been fostered in Canada. Two historical points of reference that influence this debate. First was the de-construction by Defienbaker of Avro Aircraft. This was effective in destroying our embryonic defence industry. The other was the influx of American draft dodgers who came at the time of the Vietnam war. Many of these joined the academic world and became influential teachers and commentators.
One aspect of any foreign policy debate for Canada or any country that has some form of democratic history is the issue of morality versus "legality". Canada's internal policies have swung towards the concept of legality and away from morality. This approach can work for a time within a country because the results can be adjusted as the consensus changes. Ultimately the legalistic path fails as it is essentially an un-democratic top down form of government. Legal matters are managed essentially by an elitist group. The increasing influence of the judiciary over parliament is an interesting indicator. Policies based on morality tend to be stable, more conservative and less flexible allowing for traditions to be more strongly defined consequently resistant to change which is slower. Any change is introduced more subtly and adjustments are more orderly and generally acceptable. As morality is composed of traditional faith based values policy changes come from the society, this makes them a far more democratic undertaking.
As foreign policies are essentially an outcome of internal needs a legalistic approach becomes awkward. Foreign policy goals become harder to define and as time goes by tend to lose any focus within a world that is essentially chaotic. Canada's external policies reflect just this. For several decades Canada has slowly lost it's way in the world. Canada is no longer recognized as one of the world's leaders, speaking with authority to nations of greater power and influence and helping to guide the affairs of the world.
To define a Defense policy to reflect and assist an almost non-existant foreign policy is impossible. Until the country decides were it stands on essential issues, defence and foreign policies wil remain talking points over coffee and cocktails in the coffee shops and living rooms of Canada.

#1Where its at for External Affairs

Recently there has been a lot of discussion regarding the condition of the Canadian Armed Forces. In order to try and understand and present some intelligent suggestions for their rejuvenation it is neccessary to understand why we even have Armed Forces. There is a famous dictum that has been going the rounds for nearly two hundred years. It is that war is an extension of diplomacy. If that is true, and it has been accepted as such for a long time, then it would seem that the armed forces of a country should be prepared to enforce the foreign policies of that country as well as providing it with its national security against external forces.
So what about Canada's foreign policies. We must pluralise that word policy because we have different policies for all different situations, circumstances and occasions. The Department of External affairs from which our foreign policies emanate used to be the pre-eminent department in the Canadian government. Over the years as it has, along with all the other beaucratic endeavours of our government, gradually lost it's focus, its direction and its effectiveness. This aimlessness has had a debilitating effect on Canada's Armed Services.