National Defence committee  I think it is a significant factor, sir. I think one of the problems that we're facing now is that young people, especially young men, are always idealistic and can be swayed by the romance of a great cause, whether it was the beginning of the 20th century when anarchism or some

National Defence committee  Let me add, sir, that the divergence of interest has been there for a while. I think it was more difficult at a time when both countries saw the potential for energy resource development in the Arctic. That's less crucial now, not only because of new supplies of oil and gas, but

National Defence committee  I would add that I think sometimes we imagine the missile defence system as infinite ammunition, and if a missile is coming in we can just keep firing and knocking those missiles down. Even in the United States the reality is we have a limited number of bullets in the gun, if you

National Defence committee  I think ballistic missiles have two functions that will matter. The first is for an out-and-out attack. We want to prevent that. It seems unlikely short of a state of war, that Russia or China, being relatively responsible states, are going to launch a missile intending to hit a

National Defence committee  Yes, I agree. I think it is an excellent suggestion.

National Defence committee  I do think NORAD provides a place to have this conversation. Just as we don't deal with air defence only in NORAD—we both have air forces, and they operate globally—we don't want to put things in one basket, but we want those baskets to be connected. I might add that NATO has r

National Defence committee  Ma'am, I am just going to add to that. I think Professor Doran is right. The French have the ability, through a centralized government, to make top-down decisions and get better coordination than either of us as federations can. That's a structural difference. President Eisenho

National Defence committee  No specific cost information, sir. I think at this stage some of the benefits that had been talked about during the Martin government, potential industrial benefits from getting involved and helping to build the systems, those have largely passed, although there are always new t

National Defence committee  Only to say that I think Professor Doran is right. The United States is going to react favourably to Canada. You're a good ally. If Canada exempts itself from one program, I think it's a strange lacuna to put into the relationship. It's frustrating, but it doesn't mean that the f

National Defence committee  Yes.

National Defence committee  I think it was a disappointment, although consistent with where Canada has been in the past. I think the biggest problem in 2005 was the raising of expectations with the Bush administration that Canada might be making a different answer to this question, after which the United St

National Defence committee  Certainly. Thank you. I first would like to echo Professor Doran's thanks to the committee for having us back. I want to just say a couple of things, some of which you already know, but I think it's important to add to the record. There's been a lot of stir among U.S. allies fo

National Defence committee  Mr. Chairman, I would just add very briefly, that it is really hard to compare dollars for dollars. When we talk about percentage of GDP and the NATO targets for at least spending 2% of GDP, one of the advantages that Italy, France, but especially a country like Canada, have is a

National Defence committee  I would just add two things very briefly. First, three years ago we saw Estonia attacked by the Russians in the largest cyber-attack we've ever seen. This led NATO to establish a cyber-defence centre in Estonia. So we may not see a military attack. We may see a cyber-attack. The

National Defence committee  Mr. Williamson—