Two hundred years ago, there was the War of 1812. We're celebrating it today. Thank God we haven't had to defend our own border since then. In 1912, no one knew that Vimy Ridge was ahead. Now there's that painting behind you. Today there are lots of conflicts in the world and potential pressures. But we know our European allies have taken €50 billion out of their defence budgets in the last five years. This is a concern within NATO. The U.S., under any scenario, will be making rather dramatic defence cuts, we think. We increased but are now reducing, to some extent, to balance our budget. Does that concern you? What new pressures do you think there might be on Canada in the years ahead as a result of that rebalancing of effort within NATO?
On November 29th, 2012. See this statement in context.