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Question 4: SecurityIn promoting the security of Canadians, where should our priorities lie? Should
Canada give a higher priority to military combat operations? To sectors such
as intelligence gathering and analysis? Or should we focus on broader security
measures, such as combatting environmental degradation and the spread of infectious
disease? What should be our distinctive role in promoting global security? |
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| Contributor: | 1864 |
| Date: |
2003-05-01 01:51:33 |
| Answer: |
Canada's security priority should be to work with everyone who is trying to make the world safer and healthier for all its people. Clearly, we can't do that without appropriate defence of our borders. But the world does not need another country armed, willing and ready to fight a war, and any initiatives in this direction will, I believe do more to undermine my security than it will to enhance it. This is what a real leader would say loudly and repeatedly to those who keep ridiculing Canada's capacity to fight in a war, rather than making foolish assertions about our contribution to this or that war effort.
I don't know anything about how much or how little Canada does in intelligence gathering: clearly some of this is necessary but it should not violate domestic or international law and human rights and should be strictly subject to our wider policy interests.
Canada had, I believe, already carved out a distinctive role for itself in promoting global security through its commitment to UN peacekeeping missions, to preserving the NPT, by creatively moving the landmines agenda forward to achieve the ban treaty, etc. Unfortunately, I believe this distinctive role has been significantly undermined by our participation in questionable wars. The outcome of these wars was not materially affected by these engagements, but our reputation and our sense of who we are was. I believe some interest group (Was it corporate, military, government, media, or some combination?) deliberately played the macho card to make Canadians accept these initiatives. An enlightened leadership that was clearly focussed on the common security of ordinary people, wherever they are, would have directly and vigorously pointed out that war was not the appropriate response in these situations and would have refused Canada's participation, siding instead, vigorously, with all those who were working for a resolution to these situations without resorting to war.
Canada's distinctive role:
peacekeeping; non-violent conflict resolution (develop expertise at all levels of the military and diplomatic corps);
promotion of democracy and the rule of law;
police keeping;
peace-making and responsible humanitarian interventions within (and only within) the framework of the UN (work to develop within the UN a rapid deployment force that is , as a last resort, capable of and mandated for combat if the situation demands it);
by all these means build confidence about Canada and Canadians and among other nations.
A policy framework such as this would, I believe, do much to enhance my security and that of my children and grandchildren.
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