The relative peace we have enjoyed since the end of the Cold War has never been as challenged as it is today, and Canada, once a reasonably formidable player on the international stage, has no role in shaping the world’s uncertain future. Our military and diplomatic capabilities have been permitted to diminish, and major voices in both defence and business have taken to warning the rest of us of the consequences.
Perrin Beatty, former minister of national defence and current CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, decried the woeful state of Canada’s presence on the world stage last weekend in an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. This was not Beatty’s first public plea to end the government’s complacency and take defence seriously. In 1987, as minister of defence, he tabled a white paper proposing to rearm the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), increase funding and add nuclear submarines to the fleet. His idea was good then and it is good now.
