Oh, Canada/with some thoughts on the Canadian military
Over the weekend wire and blog reports I read said the race between the Conservatives and Liberals had tightened. Apparently voters in the Maritimes are particularly vulnerable to allegations that those “Conservatives out West” are dangerous folks, almost Americans. What’s the word for “borking” in Canadian? In this case “borking en masse.” Perhaps the appropriate description is “plain old scare tactics.” I haven’t seen a poll looking at the Maritimes (if some one has, send me a link). In 1998 my family took a long car and ferry tour of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. We spent a wonderful week on Prince Edward Island. The lovely Maritimes could use a jolt of Reagan-esque economic juice.
For other thoughts on this important election see Michelle Malkin’s roundup. Michelle has a very rich collection of links — Mark Steyn, Ed Morrissey, the CBC site. (And after visiting the CBC site, I’ll add it as a link, too. The current lead article is “Polls Open In Atlantic Canada.”)
What are the issues? Liberal Party corruption drives this election. Good government is the first and foremost, so I’ll offer “good government, good-bye to the bums, and good riddance” to the CBC as a soundbite. Paul Martin won’t like it. As Michelle points out, Ed Morrissey is the hero in this. Morrissey should win a journalism award. While cynics may be justified in saying that Morrissey won’t get anything but a cold shoulder from press prize committees (ie, he didn’t “get Nixon,” he’s helped get a Liberal) this bias may be fading. Many Canadians know what Morrissey accomplished by insisting on the truth and by providing a forum for discussion and genuine dissent.
Here’s my position on the election: I’m for rebuilding what was once one of the best military organizations in the Free World, the Canadian Army. Its decline and degradation have reduced Canada’s international political influence.
Quick background: I worked with 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in Europe on three different major exercises in 1976 and 1977 (in West Germany). I worked with soldiers from 4th CMBG in the planning phases of two exercises and served as a liaison officer during another exercise. In REFORGER 76 the headquarters I served in (Headquarters, 1st Infantry Division Forward) became the headqaurters for a multi-national division. Our operations section controled 4th CMBG, the German’s 29th Panzer Brigade, and the US 1st Inantry Division’s 3rd Brigade. We portrayed the Russians (”Orange Force” in the scenario).
The Canadians launched a sneaky infantry attack –on foot– that preceded our armor attack. The ground attack cracked the Blue Force, sent them reeling, and blew open a hole for Canadian and US tanks.
The judges had to stop the exercise. Take a mulligan, Blue Force.
In my opinion, the Canadian brigade was the best brigade in NATO, which probably meant it was the best brigade man for man in the world.
I think the decline of the Canadian military has weakened Canada as a
global political player. As the Canadian military declined, the Liberals’
game of “we aren’t America” (which is a fair fame to play, and one that
can actually strategically benefit the cause of freedom) declined into rank, adolescent anti-Americanism. Is there a connection between increasingly
strident rhetoric and the loss of military capability? I think the answer is probably “yes.”
The decline in military capability means Canada cannot act with a full spectrum of foreign policy options— a wonkese way of saying Canada’s lack of military prowess creates weakness. Internationally, strident rhetoric usually indicates one of two conditions: a bully, attempting to intimidate (Iran) or it’s an attempt to mask weakness. I think Canada suffers (obviously) from the second condition.
Perhaps this is a minor issue among Canadians. It shouldn’t be.
UPDATE: David Warren writes about the election.
His begins polemically:
As one of the precious few “social conservatives” writing in the Canadian mainstream media, I am deluged with mail from disenfranchised people.
There are, I would estimate, many million people in this country who still hold views that were fairly universally held a couple of generations ago — against abortion on demand, same-sex “marriage”, pornography in public places, among many other issues. Who think men are men and women are women, and that both are degraded when they are forced to exchange their natural roles. Who are more favourably disposed to the United States than to the average fashionable Third World dictatorship. Who are not instinctively offended by the existence of our military, or our police. Who understand risk and reward. Who are proud of what their ancestors achieved in this country. Who work for a living, and resent the fact that most of the high taxes they pay go to purposes and programmes they find abhorrent…
Then, a few grafs down, he writes:
No mainstream political party will dare to represent these people.
As a result, Warren thinks many of the “disenfranchised” won’t vote for Canada’s Conservative Party. Warren warns (which is an punster’s dream mesh of subject and verb) “But the best is often the enemy of the good.”
Read the entire essay.
Austin, In a number of interviews, Harper has made it clear that he believes that Canada can not have a serious foreign policy,unless it has the military capability to back it up. I doubt that the voters were paying much attention to Harper’s foreign policy positions. Discussion of our role in the world has been absent from the election campaign. It was hardly mentioned in the four leader’s debates. However,if Canadians decide to throw the Liberals out, we will finally have a government which will not engage in cheap anti-American rhetoric. That would be a vast improvement on what we have now. Steve
Comment by Steve Albert — 1/23/2006 @ 9:46 am
Nice post - now I’m off to vote to throw the bastards out. I expect my riding however to remain Liberal - what a shame.
Comment by John B — 1/23/2006 @ 10:27 am
Should Stephen Harper win, his budget proposal will be the perfect opportunity to convince the Canadians to accept an increase in defense spending. Heck, the American defense spending as a percentage of GDP is too low IMO. It’s positive to imagine the Americans, the British and the Canadians together again on the battlefields.
Comment by Matthew — 1/23/2006 @ 10:35 am
I’m a Big Red 1 alum, first Gulf War vintage. I served alongside Canadians in Germany and on some UN peacekeeping/peacemaking gigs. I thought they were the most professional military personnel (at the rank and file level) that I served with, bar none. Their equipment, however, clearly let them down. The Marines always repeat they canard that they’ve done so much with so little for so long that they can now do anything with nothing forever. Which is a crock because the Marines have nice kit, but the Canadians were using M-113s as their primary infantry “fighting vehicle” - a role it is not suited for - in Bosnia in 1994. The Bombardier jeeps were pretty sorry, and there simply wasn’t enough Canadian air force or navy to go around - never mind the tiny size of the ground forces. The Canadian military has extremely high quality personnel, but its equipment and staffing levels are woeful, and that is sad for a magnificent country and proud military that has so often served as the tip of the spear for freedom and Western democracy. I hope Canada, and specifically Canada’s politicians, drop this meaningless “World’s Conscience” pap and take up the mantle of leadership again, and (among other things) work to rebuild the Canadian military.
Comment by Al Maviva — 1/23/2006 @ 10:53 am
Austin, According to the last Ipsos-Reid poll, reported in the National Post, in the Maritimes, the Conservatives hold a slight lead at 39 percent, the Liberals are at 37 percent (of course, statistically, that’s a dead heat) and the NDP are at 22 percent. That represented a drop of three points for the Conservatives in the last week and a drop of eight points for the NDP, and a whopping 11 point increase for the Liberals. Ed Willett
Comment by Edward Willett — 1/23/2006 @ 10:54 am
It’s sad that the army that landed at Juno Beach and fought bravely at Dieppe has fallen so far.
Comment by Dexter Westbrook — 1/23/2006 @ 11:18 am
We have a lot of Canadian snow-birds in my golfing community here in Florida. Since they are fairly affluent (well, they do have a 2nd home in Florida for the winters) you may get a skewed view of this election. But it is their opinion that nothing much will change culturally since most Canadians have been socially pampered. It will have to take a real economic setback including high unemployment, high inflation and long waiting lists for medical care to get the real revolution going. If anything, Harper is a caretaker not a risk taker in political terms. A Canadian Ronald Reagan is nowhere to be seen but if they go into the dumpster there may be one to emerge.
Comment by Jack Lillywhite — 1/23/2006 @ 11:24 am
[…] election thread at Fark Conservative revolution? Thoughts and roundups at Michelle Malkin. Austin Bay: Here’s my position on the election: I’m for rebuilding what was once one of the be […]
Pingback by Dust my Broom » Blog Archive » Monday Vote — 1/23/2006 @ 11:33 am
Austin, I live in Missouri now, but I spent the first 26 years of my life in Atlantic Canada, growing up in New Bruswick and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes are definitely blessed with natural beauty (and the best lobster dinners in the world), but the odds of Reagan-style economics taking hold there are somewhere between slim and none. Perhaps no other region of Canada has been so thoroughly weakened by generations of dependence on government and government handouts; it’s part of the psyche for a lot of Atlantic Canadians, the idea that happiness, jobs, and financial security can *only* be provided by government and government services. Many so-called “seasonal workers”, in the fishing and timber industry, work a fraction of the year and then go on planned “unemployment” stints that can last from six to nine months, all with the blessing of a very liberal unemployment insurance program. Nobody seems to mind this; if anything, there’s a feeling of “how can I get in on the action?”. What little entrepreneurial spirit that exists is choked under layers of regulation and stifling taxes. It’s an open joke amongst young Maritimers to “head west” to find work; that used to mean Toronto, but increasingly, it means Alberta as well. Some even head down to the “scary” United States; seriously, from being educated in the Canadian public school system, you’d practically think that Americans ate their young and threw their widows into Texas oil wells. The problem is that the kind of young people who might reform the Maritimes find it much easier to pack up and leave instead. Maritimers have been conditioned to fear challenge and competition; without the Liberals in charge, the thinking goes, who’s going to take care of us? Who’ll give us our free pills? When Brian Mulroney and the last Conservative government steamrolled to the largest majority in Canadian political history in 1988, the one part of the country they did poorly in was Atlantic Canada.
Comment by Peter — 1/23/2006 @ 11:43 am
I will confess the typical American’s general ignorance of Canadian politics, which is all the more surprising since I lived there for a stretch during elementary school and my sister was born there. My father, who did not lack for pithy observations, once noted that the differences between the United States and Canada can be summarized in their iconic founding words. The United States was founded on the idea that the most important things in the world were “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The corresponding totems in Canada: “peace, order and good government.” There is a lot of truth buried inside national myths.
Comment by TigerHawk — 1/23/2006 @ 11:44 am
Just a note: Your Armed Forces haven’t fallen. Their support from Canadian Nation has failed them. Don’t blame the service men and women. Blame the Canadian voters, and work to correct the problems.
Comment by Chris — 1/23/2006 @ 12:08 pm
If I am not mistaken in the Second World War the Canadian Navy was fourth in the world, after the US, UK and the Japanese, and sustained a major role in the Battle of the Atlantic. How have the mighty fallen !!!
Comment by Mark Benenson — 1/23/2006 @ 12:14 pm
It is interesting to note that this election is being driven primarily by two major sound bites - “The Liberals are corrupt” (from the PC’s)and the “Conservatives will destroy Canada” (from the Liberals (and to an extent the NDP)), there is very little discussion around policies, approaches to governing etc. Both sound bites are overstated as absolutes by partisans, a fact that contributes to the lack-luster interest aong the general public in this campaign. There is a sense among most people I have spoken to that both parties are so obsessively out-of-touch with people’s needs that they don’t lead or create policy so much as they position themselves for what they think will get them the best response. There is hardly an original thought among any of the leading parties and to an increasingly large number of Canadians, the government is irrevocably sliding into irrelevance to their lives. Barring a few mentions of the Conservative committment to reducing the GST (ironic in that they implemented it under Mulroney), and some soundbites on gay marriage, neither party seems particularly interested in actually elevating the campaign to real issues, particularly Foreign policy, which has barely been addressed (beyond the Liberals knee-jerk efforts to tap anti-Americanism and the average Canadian’s dislike of Bush into the equation) and the long-neglected military remains a largely invisible policy discussion. The neglect of the military is doubly ironic given the Liberal’s propensity to dispatch Canadian troops as peacekeepers on a willy-nilly basis (2,000 more are deploying into Afghanistan shortly), garnering the government some nice plaudits internationally but putting the underequipped men and women of the Canadian military in the line of fire. My election prediction is that the Tories will slide into a bare majority or a minority government - not precisely a stable situation but Canadian voters anothing if not coldly pragmatic and will vote strategically to ensure it doesn’t think it has a mandate to run hog-wild. They don’t want to give the Tories a massive landslide as a wide number of people have low levels of trust for Harper and the Reform party elements within the Tories (for my American friends read that as hard-core right wing Republicans). Given Harper’s past inability to keep the wilder idiots of the party from sounding off on social issues, I expect we will be back at the polls within a short span of time unless they eke out a majority… Thanks for the post Austin!
Comment by Dean — 1/23/2006 @ 12:31 pm
I went through Ranger School in ‘93 with the usual cast of Batt Boys, new 2LTs, a few SF types, some SEALs and…four Canadians. Two officers and two NCOs. The Canadians were by far the meanest and toughest of the lot. They waltzed through like it was nothing.
Comment by Stoner — 1/23/2006 @ 12:44 pm
re Ipsos, they also had the French comfortably passing the EU constitution until the last minute (contrary to other opinion polls): http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=112805E so if something doesn’t seem right here, maybe it isn’t. but who knows?
Comment by clayNY — 1/23/2006 @ 1:05 pm
A snarky question: Will Canadian liberals “threaten” to move elsewhere if Harper and the Conservative take charge? If they promise to flee, I think the most likely place they’ll claim to want to go to is Spain. Leftists who threaten to leave their home country because they don’t like election results are running out of places to go.
Comment by Lou Minatti — 1/23/2006 @ 1:20 pm
Seems to me that it’s perfectly rational for the Canadians to spend little on the military. I wonder why they even have a military at all? Canada is a free rider on a lot of issues, none more so than the military. I can’t imagine what country would threaten Canada in any case, but Canada is America’s li’l buddy: push comes to shove, everyone knows that the USA would defend Canada. We (Americans) would provide their defense, just as now we make their pharmaceutical drugs and provide them with their technological advances of all kinds. Why would they bother? Canada’s NOT a player on the international stage — no one expects anything at all of them — and so they do not need to project power. (I was struck recently by my British boss telling me how he knew very little about Canada, because he never hears anything about Canada.) I’m as much a hawk as anyone, but I can see how I might not be if I were Canadian.
Comment by Kevin — 1/23/2006 @ 1:25 pm
REFORGER! I hadn’t thought of those gigantic NATO exercises since I participated in 77 and 78 with the 3rd battalion 64th Armor regiment, 3rd ID. We were based out of Schweinfurt, and we spent two months driving around Southern Bavaria in Autumn. It was great fun.
Comment by Patrick Garner — 1/23/2006 @ 1:28 pm
The Avro Arrow to the Sea Kings. How the mighty have fallen. I’m surfing, watching, and streaming the election from Wales, U.K (ex-pat Canadian). Come on Canada! Throw the bums out!
Comment by Derek Selch — 1/23/2006 @ 1:35 pm
I know the quailty of the Canadian forces having been married to a Warrent Officer for twenty years. It has been a joy to actually read some positive comments on our forces. We know they are great forces, all of them and we know what they have had to deal with the last 13 years and we should feel guilty for not speaking out and letting the liberals behave as they did. With a Prime Minister Harper we can turn this around, no more jets for the politicians while the forces fly helicopters that are so old and in such bad shape it takes 12 hours of maintaining them for each hour of flying them. Thank you for the recognition of our great troops of the past and I am sure they ones in Afghistan will perform as did the former troops. We are going to have 2000 in Afghistan soon, that is if America will fly them there. Those new jets for the politiciands should be used! It is unusual to hear comments of praise from American regarding Canada, so we appreciative when it happens.
Comment by cjg — 1/23/2006 @ 1:50 pm
I second the thoughts about the Canadian troops being excellent - while their equipment and support is shockingly poor. The Canadian recce squadron I used to help a bit while in Afghanistan was a prime example of this situation. Glad to have them around, almost cried on their behalf when I saw their LAVs…
Comment by Major John — 1/23/2006 @ 2:34 pm
Re comment #5 on the latest poll from Ipsos … the commenter Ed willett appears to be the victim of a typo or some other confusion. As you can check at http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=2949 the latest poll shows the Conservatives leading the Liberals by 38% to 27%. This is a very large sample (11,000 people) and is in line with the findings of most of the polls. Otherwise, the bad news is indeed that the welfare state has badly eroded Canada’s moral capital. The good news is that this really is the conservative Conservative Party (unlike the unlamented Mulroney effort) that is about to get a good shot at turning things around.
Comment by CJ — 1/23/2006 @ 2:51 pm
I was in the US Navy back during the Cold War. The Canadian Navy was highly respected for their seamanship and ship handling skills. That was back when Canada had a navy, not part of the integrated service, or whatever it’s called now. However, I was told by some Canadian Sailors during a visit to Halifax (I don’t know if it was true or not), that about half of ships of the Canadian Atlantic Squadron were “Harbor Queensâ€, that is, unable to sail because of lack of parts and repairs. I can see Canadians wanting to have a small military if that’s what they want for Canada, but you would think they would want their service men and women to have top quality equipment and resources.
Comment by Navy Vet — 1/23/2006 @ 3:15 pm
This may post twice. I hit the “say it” button, but did not see the comment posted. My Apologies if it shows up twice I was in the US Navy back during the Cold War. The Canadian Navy was highly respected for their seamanship and ship handling skills. That was back when Canada had a navy, not part of the integrated service, or whatever it’s called. However, I was told by some Canadian Sailors during a visit to Halifax (I don’t know if it was true or not), that about half of the ship’s of the Canadian Atlantic Squadron were “Harbor Queensâ€, that is, unable to sail because of lack of parts and repairs. I can see Canadians wanting to have a small military if that’s what they want for Canada, but you would think they would want their service men and women to have top quality equipment and resources.
Comment by Navy Vet — 1/23/2006 @ 3:20 pm
Vis-a-vis the “Canadian Forces”. I am reminded of a question from that great Canadian game Trivial Pursuit, “In 1946, what nation had the world’s 3rd largest navy?” Answer: Canada
Comment by Duncan Frissell — 1/23/2006 @ 3:42 pm
I am an old Canadian gunner, so I know the equipment issues first hand. However, from a policy perspective it makes a lot of sense. The poor state of the army gives the government a handy (and true) excuse to avoid adventurism. Note how we dodged involvement in Iraq and (until recently) did useful stuff in Afghanistan which didn’t involve killing other people. It would be much harder for Canada to avoid American hair-brained schemes if we had a military that the pentagon took seriously.
Comment by Jim B — 1/23/2006 @ 3:51 pm
Interesting take on a number of issues! There is no doubt that the Liberals have sabotaged our military through purposful neglect. But what’s the story with Maritimers being vulnerable to the LIberal fear mongering? It’s been pretty obvious for decades that the maritimes as a region has been more and more moulded into the liberal ideal of the “dependent and have not” provinces. The fear in the maritimes is the loss of federal hand out programs. Never mind that these are never effective and never actually create any lasting benefit in the region. The mentality is set by the policies of federal provincial transfers. This is how the LIberals have sabotaged the minds of many Canadians. The victim mentality is easily exploited and thats what liberals do. Is there any real reason for the maritmers to worry about conservative policies? Hell no! Learn to embrace democracy and freedom!
Comment by PGP — 1/23/2006 @ 4:02 pm
You’re darned right, I’ve been saying this for years! (Oh, and just to correct one person on here, Brian Mulroney won the largest majority government in 1984, winning 211 out of 282 seats.) Canada needs a military presence once again, and another Brian Mulroney. Just who do you think is running this campaign for Harper? It ain’t Joe Clark. Hence the gains in Quebec. Stand up for Canada! God Bless Canada, and our American brothers.
Comment by Chris — 1/23/2006 @ 4:41 pm
Austin, I appreciate your comments on the Canadian Army. The navy too has its glorious past, as its was the 3rd largest in the world in 1945. Hopes things change for the better for the Great White North!
Comment by Mike Burleson — 1/23/2006 @ 5:42 pm
A great Canadian blog that I read regularly is Small Dead Animals. Kate does a great job of getting out what the Canadian Media is putting on the back pages. And Joe B….it is my happy duty to inform you that Canadian Forces in Afghanistan have done a great job of doing what Armies are supposed to do. Kill people! And even if all you want to be is an international peacekeeping mission, it would be nice if you lot could get there on your own. Before too long you’ll be as mobile as a Mountie without his horse and just as relevant.
Comment by Quilly Mammoth — 1/23/2006 @ 5:56 pm
In January 1978 we (Co.A 2nd Ranger BN) trained with the Canadian Commando Regiment in Pettawawa (Sp?), Ontario. Some of us got to do a shortened version of their jump school, we spent plenty of time on the ranges and pulling akios, etc. They were excellent troops and it was a real shame that they were disbanded (a feeling that many western Canadians have shared with me). I have to agree with the many who want to see our neighbors reinvigorate their military. Reactivating the above-mentioned Commando Regiment would be a fine place to start.
Comment by Dave — 1/23/2006 @ 6:09 pm
Jim B, referring to Canadian forces, said that “Note how we…(until recently) did useful stuff in Afghanistan which didn’t involve killing other people”. Note to Jim B: the purpose of the military is to kill other people. If you want to send people to Afghanistan to do useful things that DON’T involve killing people, fine, but don’t send the military, send over the Girl Scouts. Jim B. has demonstrated one factor (of several) that has contributed to the decline in public support in Canada for the military: over the last 40 years, Canada has morphed into a nation of pussies (for the most part). What has allowed Canada to become a nation of pussies is our isolation from reality. Canadians don’t really think that the world is a dangerous place anymore, and have become adjusted to the soft, good life, while the Americans do the hard work of keeping world order and warding off danger. Most Canadian men, like Jim B, have become feminized. Also Canada is one of the most politically correct countries in the world, suffering from pussifying cultural self-guilt. Of course the combat infantry soldiers in the Canadian military are some of the few real men left in Canada, such as the PPCLI and the JTF2, the main problem being that there are so few of them, and the broader Canadian public bears no relation to the few good men who are Canadian combat infantry soldiers. The Canadian public have not been properly prepared to face the casualties that are sure to mount in the coming months now that 2,000 Canadian soldiers are currently being sent to Afghanistan for offensive military operations against a resurgent Taliban. I am afraid that the softies who are the Canadian voting public will panic once it becomes clear that this is going to involve more than just a handful of Canadian casualties. I hope the new Prime Minister makes some speeches to prepare Canadians for this, as the old Prime Minister (who made the decision to send the larger force to Afghanistan) did not prepare the public and seemed to want to hide the deployment under the political rug. There are some pockets of hope in Canada: while Canada is overall a nation of pussies, there are thousands of non-pussified real men in rural Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and throughout Alberta.
Comment by Jody — 1/23/2006 @ 6:54 pm
I’ve always appreciated our neighbors to the north, so all the anti-Americanisms I’ve heard from Canada the past several years really hurt. I was really impressed with Canadian capabilities during our RIMPAC exercises, too, during the mid-70’s. Their anti-submarine capabilities were great, and I wish our Navy kept our P-3 crews together the way the Canadians kept their crews together. It made a difference! It’s been hard to watch the Canadian military’s gradual decline. Just remember, it could happen here, too, under different leadership.
Comment by E. T. Page USN 71-78 — 1/23/2006 @ 7:07 pm
A few more anecdotes about the Canadian military: 1. The Canadian Snowbirds aerobatic team is one of the best in the world. So of course the Liberal government was thinking of cancelling their funding. 2. The longest confirmed sniper kill in history is now owned by Master Cpl Aaron Perry, a Canadian sniper, who shot a bad guy in Afghanistan at a range of 2430 meters (so much for Canadians not killing people in Afghanistan). 3. Three Canadian snipers, along with three U.S. Special Forces soldiers, rescued an entire company of 101st Airborne soldiers during operation Anaconda in Afghanistan. The 101st was pinned down by Taliban forces, and the six snipers manoevered within range and began slaughtering the Taliban. At one point they ran out of ammo, and a Canadian broke cover and ran down a hillside to retrieve more ammo. The U.S. wanted to award all three Canadians the Bronze Star, but our idiotic Liberal government refused to allow it for political reasons. After Operation Anaconda, Canadians had the highest kill ratio in Afghanistan. 4. Canadians outperformed everyone in the annual ‘William Tell’ fighter competitions. In the last one held before the program was cancelled in 1996, Canadians flying outdated F-18s took first place in 6 out of 11 categories, as well as Top Gun, Top Scope, and the overall victory, flying against 10 other teams from around the world. 5. The NATO tank games used to be colloquially called the ‘Canada Cup’ because of the frequency of Canadian victories. It’s sad to see what’s become of our fine military, and all of it at the hands of the Liberals. If Harper can restore even a quarter of our former glory, we’ll be back out and punching above our weight in no time.
Comment by Dan — 1/23/2006 @ 8:00 pm
You know - it really is only our serving members past and present that seem to understand the true mettle of the Canadian soldier. Whether you look at our air force, navy or army - each serving members does so with honour, professionalism and integrity. I can only hope that a minority Harper government can assist in rebuilding a fine and respected military.
Comment by JD — 1/24/2006 @ 1:38 am
O Canada! I officially declare this Canada day on the Ministry. In the spirit of this official celebration of the lives, achievements and peculiarities of our neighbors to the north, herewith, some linkage: Canada now has a conservative government. Right wing wa…
Trackback by The Ministry of Minor Perfidy — 1/24/2006 @ 1:38 pm
I used to attend the annual NATO tank trials in Grafenwoer in the late 1970s-early 80s. The Canadians always won. I still wear my Canadian Army Trophy hat. Used to love the firing range too. Also in the 1970s, we used to work with Canadian military attaches in eastern Europe. They were no cowards when it came to the targeting game.
Comment by Chris Allen — 1/25/2006 @ 11:40 am
Very pleased to read all the supportive comments about our military. I’ve spent 23 years in the reserves (RCN(R) Cadet -Gunnery Officer 1954-1864, Padre RMR (Royal Montreal Regiment) and Brigade Padre 1984-1992, Hon. Lt. Col. RMR, 1999-2004, and so now in my 70th year am an old fart watching the youngsters do their thing and am immensely grateful that their guts, hard work, and patriotism will now, maybe, be rewarded with proper support. Am presently acting as a editor -pro tem of VOL 4 of our regimental history to be published in time fo our 100th anniversary. In it, there will be a chapter devoted to the post- Trudeau (1968 on ) years and the way in which a comlpliant media and headquarters often suppressed the war fighting skills of our people. Until Gov. Gen Glarkson came along an made an issue of the Battle of the Medak Pocket, the public was only told that our soldiers were boy scouts in green. Particularly Dan (item #34) , but anyone who has other stories of verifyable and untold (to the Canadian people) stories of our soldiers, please let me know. Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense Dennis Dwyer
Comment by Dennis Dwyer — 1/25/2006 @ 3:39 pm
Interesting comments on Canada. So much potential, but yet….. The greatest weapon in the Canadian arsenal these days is the telephone (the one used to call the US for help).
Comment by John — 1/25/2006 @ 4:04 pm
Mr. Bay! The Calgary Herald, Calgary, Alberta’s ‘broadsheet’ daily newspaper, published a wonderful version of this article. I want to thank-you for writing such an insightful and knowledgeable article. Yur perceptions are dead on the mark IMHO. Your personal experience in the ’70’s echoes the Canadian miltary experience in WWII, but one mustn’t forget the sheer and utter brilliance of the Canadian Corps (60,000 strong!!) during the last year of WWI. They were without a doubt the finest large, fighting force in the world! Brilliantly led by General Currie the Canadians demolished German stronghold and stronghold especially during the last 100 days. Ironically, they were considered part of the “British” Army in many texts and their exploits remain little known ……… you guessed it, even within our history books! (Come now, Canadians as battle hardened warriors of highest calibre … really now??!) The new minority gov’t will stop the rot but it will be difficult to affect much change in the 2 years or so that they’ll have. Oh my do I wish we could re-build the land Army into at least a fully equipped, divisional strength force. The history, raw talent and latent ability is very much there ……. but to recover the will? After all if you believe the Liberals, we Canadians are now known by our nanny state, apparently compassionate, unsustainable social programs. Thanks again for your great article … what a great read it was!!
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