No. I think, for example, that Mr. Harper was a wartime Prime Minister because of Afghanistan. I happen to agree with his decision to have us leave Afghanistan because I think the Canadian Forces at the time were terribly stretched. He and his successors did somewhat reduce the size of the military. It's another peace dividend. Did they do that intentionally? No. They did it to try to save money to use on other things.
I happen to think, in part because of my experience, that national security is as important as other sectors of activity. Various governments at various times take different views.
Mr. Chrétien did not want to be the Prime Minister when 9/11 occurred. The last thing he wanted was to ask Parliament to appropriate $7.9 billion in the December after 9/11, but he was forced to do it because of the circumstances.
I do think that prime ministers and governments have their own priorities. I don't think we give enough in Canada to national security, but that's just me. I'm probably prejudiced because of my jobs over the years, but I think the change in the international environment is such that we're going to have to spend more time, money and effort on the sorts of things you're talking about.