By Senator Colin Kenny
Chairman, Senate Standing Committee
on National Security and Defence
There are two main groups of Canadians opposed to the concept of spending a reasonable amount of government money to create a credible armed forces and reliable security infrastructure. The first group feels that Canada should be cashing in a “peace dividend” that they think should have begun gushing out of the federal treasury at the end of the cold war. The second group simply thinks that Canada should take a free ride – save a chunk of cash by clinging to the coattails of the Americans and our other allies.
I have some respect for the first group, even though I think they are sadly misguided. The second group I have no time for. If Canada is going to remain a sovereign country, part of the global community, Canadians cannot afford to cheat on defending our own sovereignty as well as playing some role in maintaining world stability. This scam is unethical, immoral, and short-sighted.
After ten months of hearings, which began before Sept. 11, the Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defence has released a report on Canada’s capacity to offer its citizens a decent level of safety at home, and to make a proper contribution to world security, including the struggle against terrorism. It should not come as a shock that we have found Canada’s armed forces to be badly underfunded, and that we have found Canada’s security infrastructure wanting.
The Committee was well aware that its job was to represent the interests of all Canadians, of all colours, birthplaces, backgrounds, social status and attitudes toward life. The stands Canada takes on security and military defence could affect the lives of all of us – our safety, our prosperity, the capacity of both our governmental and non-govermental institutions to serve our interests.
Here is the gamble we Canadians cannot take: we cannot role the dice and hope that Canadians and their institutions face little threat from the kinds of people whose eyes continue to glow when the lights go out. There are a lot of them, they hate Americans, and they hate us. September 11 wasn’t a one-off. War is economic, physical and emotional hell. It has been killing off our young since the beginning of time, and we should take every reasonable measure possible to pre-empt it. Terrorism is hell – in its rage it revels in the destruction of the innocent – and, again, we should take every reasonable measure possible to pre-empt it too. We Canadians are not currently taking such reasonable measures.
For anyone guessing that terrorists are only going to target America, and would never be bothered with lovely little Canada, I ask them to ponder who ever thought they would target America before September 11. For anyone certain that Canadians will never again have to suffer the hardships of full-scale wars the way our parents and grandparents did, I ask them how many people in 1910 could ever have guessed that the most hideous war in history was right around the corner. And how many people in the 1920s – after the Great War, “the war to end all wars,” had ended – would have guessed that something as devastating as World War II was in the wings.
Anyone reading the Committee report won’t take long to come to the conclusion that we Canadians are pretending that all is well in our armed forces, in our security agencies, at our ports, airports and border crossings, and it is not all right.
Canada’s armed forces could be upgraded to a credible level by raising Canada’s military spending significantly, but certainly not extravagantly. Canada’s defence budget now ranks ahead only two of 18 NATO countries – tiny Luxembourg, and Iceland. The budget increase the Committee is asking for would cost most Canadians annually less than what they pay for car or house insurance every month. It is time we recognized that we need country insurance.
Who, in today’s world, would work hard to maintain a cozy home, a place to feel secure and happy, and not insure it or even bother to lock the doors at night?
Read the report, and think about what needs to be done to give all Canadians reasonable peace of mind. In the end, I believe thoughtful people, on the left, on the right, and in the middle, will agree with me. This is a wonderful country we live in. But the doors aren’t locked and the insurance policy is out of date.
The truth is that we Canadians are cheating. Our friends know it. And so do our enemies.