Cleaning out the cupboards for Ukraine is a bad idea
OTTAWA—Last week, former chief of defence staff, retired general Rick Hillier went on a one-man charm offensive to harness the Canadian public’s support for Ukraine. The genesis of the mini-media storm was the official announcement that Hillier has been appointed to chair a new strategic council advising Ukraine’s territorial defence forces. This new council has […]
Canada needs to fix its foreign policy in a troubled world
TORONTO—There are growing signs of unhappiness with Canada’s foreign policy—or more accurately, perhaps, the lack of a coherent foreign policy, one that safeguards Canada’s interests for the increasingly troubled and difficult world we seem likely to face over the next decade and beyond. This is why we need serious and immediate attention to Canada’s future […]
Canada’s absence at nuclear prohibition treaty meeting a disappointment
EDMONTON—Sadness best describes my feelings about Canada not showing up at the first meeting of states parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons held June 21-23 in Vienna. It is utterly sad that a country which once led the way in telling the nuclear powers to cool down the arms race, which […]
Liberals on collision course to entrench anti-Blackness
OTTAWA—Do the Liberals choose their cabinet through varying degrees of anti-Blackness, or is that just a bonus they throw in? Given that the Toronto Police Service recently gave an apology for their systemic anti-Black racism, reporters should be asking Bill Blair what his contribution to the cause was. Nevertheless, Blair is not in my crosshairs […]
‘We will have another situation at some point’: politicians, experts eye fix to ‘disturbing’ security trends
National security experts, including the former national security and intelligence adviser to the prime minister, say increasing threats to politicians are “reflective, unfortunately, of the society we live in where we’ve seen this growing polarization.” “This is not something new, what we’ve been seeing over the last three or four months,” said Vincent Rigby, who […]
Time for a hard, public look at national security to avoid democratic backsliding
While opposition MPs and media pundits spent days trying to turn the attendance of a Canadian protocol officer at a Russian embassy reception into a national scandal, more urgent issues of substance continued to be brushed under the rug. A glaring example is the report from a group of retired top defence and intelligence officials […]
The U.S-Russia standoff: implications for global security
The U.S. goal to end the Putin regime by over-extending and unbalancing Russia has thus far not succeeded. For those nations both directly and indirectly affected by America’s escalatory actions, there is clearly a lot at stake should the U.S. succeed. Increasingly lethal arms shipments provided by Washington and its allies motivate Kyiv to continue the fight, but […]
Peacekeeping commitments continue to go unmet as Canada lags on long-promised Quick Reaction Force
Ottawa’s once-trumpeted return to United Nations peacekeeping has gone by the wayside as the Canadian government still hasn’t fulfilled a 2017 pledge for a Quick Reaction Force and has only a scattering of personnel assisting UN peace operations around the world. With added focus on Canada’s military contributions following Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, […]
‘A culture that requires correction’: CSIS needs new accountability framework, says civil liberties group
As the government responds to a series of court rulings that say Canada’s spy agency has not been sufficiently truthful when asking judges to authorize warrants, a civil liberties group says real progress will come from external oversight mechanisms and deeper changes to the agency’s internal culture and policies. Following complaints from her constituents and […]
New cyber strategy must tackle chronic talent shortage
Last December, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on four senior cabinet ministers to develop a new national cyber security strategy as a part of their public safety, innovation, foreign affairs, and defence mandates. It was welcome news, because both the frequency and severity of the cyber threats facing this country have increased drastically since the […]
