I'll just trade quotes with my academic friend. Wilfred Laurier, in 1910, set out the first principle of Canadian defence policy: there is no threat, and if there were one, the Americans would save us. All prime ministers have agreed. They believe that freeriding on the American eagle is a worthwhile thing to do--it's a rational policy, after all. I think it affects the way a lot of Canadians think about things. Not to be too cynical or too radical, I think if all members of the political community believe there are significant threats to Canada out there in the world, perhaps a non-partisan defence policy for the country would serve us all a lot of good and provide some leadership to the Canadian community. I'm certain there must be things we can all agree on.
Thank you.