CASR

Canadian
American
Strategic
Review

Defence Policy  –  Conservative Party  –  January 2006 Defence Policy Positions  —  Other Political Parties By the opening of the second stage of the general election in early January 2006, only the Conservative Party of Canada had made any major policy announcement related to defence.  CASR will review separately the record of the Liberal Party of Canada on defence issues and any new commitments made during the campaign. Here CASR presents a brief overview of the defence policies and positions of the other registered political parties taking part in the 2005/2006 general election. The  Bloc Québécois shows  little interest in military affairs (only in October 2005 did Gilles Duceppe announce that an independent Quebec  would  create  its own  armed forces). However,  there has been consistent opposition to any  Canadian participation  in missile defence, militarization of space, or the war in Iraq. Foreign policy emphasis has been on increased aid to developing countries. According to the Bloc,  a vote in Parliament should be held before any Canadian troops are committed to “zones of conflict” and the primary role of the CF should be peacekeeping missions. No defence policies had been announced by the NDP at the time of writing. In the 2004 general election, the NDP focused on missile defence and on living conditions for CF members and  families  ( promising better pay, benefits, and on-base housing ). In response to Tory plans for Arctic defence, Jack Layton said  (from Yellowknife) that the Arctic “ does need more protection  ...  including a physical presence”.[1] Mr. Layton also said that the presence of foreign submarines under the Arctic ice “without Canadian knowledge ... should be of concern to every Canadian”. [2] Besides  “fair salaries, decent housing and safe equipment”  for the CF,  the NDP continues to oppose US missile defence while supporting UN missions. The NDP claims that  “the Liberals have shifted our troops into American-led missions”. The Green Party proposes a senior umbrella agency for DND, Foreign Affairs and CIDA. This new agency would “set priorities and control budgets... [so that] ... international activities would be better focused, better informed and better co-ordinated”. The Greens have also called “for a measured but complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan”, and for Canada’s “terms of engagement in Afghanistan” to be established by the Minister of Foreign Affairs,  Pierre Pettigrew,  rather than by  “senior military officials”. The Canadian Action Party would increase numbers of CF personnel, and initiate a parliamentary review of future CF roles and capabilities. Only “peacekeeping, protecting our sovereign coastal and artic [sic] borders and disaster relief ” are to be funded.  All Canadian planners would be removed “from the Bi-national Planning Group and NORTHCOM”. The Progressive Canadian Party’s defence policy is focused on Canadian security, peacekeeping and funding. The PCs promise to “ensure adequate strength levels, quality of life initiatives and the procurement of new equipment for the Canadian Forces”. According to party literature, “The first initiative must be the replacement of the Sea King helicopters”.  Evidently,  PC defence procurement files need updating. The Communist Party of Canada  and  Marxist-Leninists (CPC-ML) would hate being grouped together. But, their defence policy recommendations are related. “Immediate withdrawal of  Canada from NORAD  and  NATO” is the ML answer to what the CPC sees as a “deliberate subordination of Canada to U.S. imperialism ... through NATO and a network of other ‘defence’ agreements”. Appropriately enough, the CHP’s defence policy is primarily apple pie and motherhood. Military alliances and peacekeeping activities are approved of, women in combat roles are not. Recruits will need to prove that they were “not practicing either unnatural or immoral lifestyles”.  (How this is to be established is, happily, not specified by the CHP.) At the time of writing, no defence policy position or commentary was apparent on the Marijuana Party of Canada website. Searching under ‘International Relations’,  the results said,  “No articles were found”. Searching under ‘Politics’,  results showed French articles only  (none defence-related).  Under ‘Miscellaneous’, results reported “Internal Server Error”. NB:  except for the two sources listed below, all quotes are from party websites. [1] As quoted in the Globe and Mail  (by Jane Taber)  Friday, 23 December 2005. [2] As quoted in  The Ottawa Citizen  Friday, 23 December 2005.