National Defence committee  We have no interest in it. It's apart from immigration. When it comes to homeland security—I'll be as blunt as Doug has been on other things—the last thing we want is for the United States to equate Canada with Mexico when it comes to homeland security.

National Defence committee  Many issues around the world affect people in Canada. The issue before the committee is to what extent do the armed forces need to be prepared to meet them, and to what extent generally are the armed forces the proper instrument in policy? Let's say we have narcotics as a probl

National Defence committee  Mr. Chairman, I apologize if I gave the impression that I was looking for a hemispheric.... I think we were making—

National Defence committee  No, I think we will maintain a global foreign policy; we'll perhaps just be more discreet in where we go. I've personally never been attracted to a western-hemispheric approach. You'd have to ask yourself what's in it for the other nations of the hemisphere. What do we bring? We'

National Defence committee  That's correct.

National Defence committee  NATO's flexible response is not just NATO's strategy—it is its whole life. It's able to cope with things, and unless there is some major crisis that breaks up the alliance it will continue to do certain things. It may well be involved in other activities. There is no reason for

National Defence committee  I can anticipate more situations in which international organizations or our allies will cast about looking for assistance in the coming years and that Canada may receive further requests for these things. As I'm suggesting, we're going to have to ration that. I believe that ma

National Defence committee  What do they look like? We are going to have a naval capability that is able to operate in home waters and overseas. We're going to have to have some sort of high-seas capability, although the contribution of maritime power in certain areas may well be limited. But it's unlikely

National Defence committee  I think it indicates we need to have the capabilities to do the job on the ground. It indicates that not all allies will be as committed to the mission as we are, and we have to be careful about that. It indicates that these sorts of conflicts undertaken for the best of reasons c

National Defence committee  As may well happen, the intake of the armed forces is going to go down. That's going to put less emphasis on the need for recruitment. Also, the staffing of recruitment centres in an era in which there are going to be personnel cuts is something that's going to.... You're going t

National Defence committee  We can do that by recognizing that we will not be able to respond to every situation abroad, but when we do decide to respond, what we send can be effective and make a contribution. We can recognize that while we do want countries to count on Canada, it's ultimately up to the Can

National Defence committee  Actually, cyber-warfare has become important within the Canadian Forces. As I explained this morning, it's something we do with the Royal Military College in terms of preparation. We hold cooperative exercises with other units in Canada and other units in the United States, both

National Defence committee  I meant that the United States is already going to have to be more selective in its overseas engagements and how it commits its forces. As with the Libyan case, where the United States contributed greatly but let their allies carry the burden, I think we already saw that the Obam

National Defence committee  I agree kind of with what Michael said. I wanted to convey that the world will be beset with all sorts of crises that might arise out of food, resources, and civil strife. Not all of these crises will directly threaten Canadian security. In fact, most of them won't. Therefore,

National Defence committee  Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee. Canada needs to retain land, sea and air forces ready to deploy overseas in multilateral combat operations. Past practice suggests, however, that we cannot predict where such operations will take place, nor their exac