Kelly McParland: Scorning Trump's Golden Dome would be a mistake
Article content
It was entirely sensible, then, for the prime minister to carefully avoid greeting Trump's Golden Dome with the sort of derision Liberals have been quick to dish out to previous renditions of spaced-based defence proposals. Projects mooted under presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush were rejected at least partly from Liberal fears of being associated with Republican leaders unpopular with progressives.
Article content
Dislike of U.S. presidents is fair enough, and this one in particular, but shouldn't be used to reject proposals that might actually be in Canada's interest. There is nothing absurd about a system that detects approaching threats so that they can be met before arrival, any more now than when Britain erected the first ground-based radar system against approaching German aircraft at the outbreak of World War Two.
Article content
The Trump version, predictably, goes far beyond anything tried elsewhere and is accompanied by the usual outpouring of flamboyant verbosity. Israel's Iron Dome protects just a fraction of the territory the U.S. is considering, while the notion of turning space into just another arena for warfare is a new and frightening step for a planet that already dances too often with means of self-destruction. That defence firm Lockheed Martin calls Trump's dream 'a Manhattan Project-scale mission' is hardly reassuring given the horrors that atomic weaponry unleashed.
Article content
Article content
Deploring the reality of threats from Russia, China, North Korea or others does nothing to remove them, however. Canada can either let our defence capability continue to wither, hoping potential dangers never materialize or that the U.S. will save us, or we play what part we can in making clear to potential adversaries the futility of any act of aggression.
Article content
The far north is Canada's most vulnerable region. Joint warning systems already exist under Norad, the North American Aerospace Defence Command. Ottawa has pledged $38.6 billion to upgrading and modernizing Canada's part in the network. In March, Carney announced a joint project with Australia for the development of Over-the-Horizon Radar technology, to 'provide advanced early warning and long-range surveillance, enabling faster CAF detection and tracking of a wide range of threats in our Northern air and maritime approaches.'
Article content
Unfortunately, we've let our defences erode for so long that playing catch-up is that much tougher a task. Ottawa is pledging a serious effort to reach NATO's defence spending benchmark of 2.0 per cent of gross domestic product just as the alliance is preparing to raise it to 5.0 per cent. Whether the dome needs to be a part of the build-up remains to be seen, but Carney will have to convince America's volatile president that Canada is giving the question honest consideration. That would include ensuring his caucus and cabinet are aware of the need to treat it that way, in public and otherwise.
Article content
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
13 minutes ago
- CBC
Carney addresses local leaders from across Canada
Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers a speech at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities annual conference and trade show in Ottawa.
CBC
13 minutes ago
- CBC
Halting spy operation placed CSIS team in unnecessary danger, watchdog report says
A new spy watchdog report says an overseas Canadian Security Intelligence Service operation was suddenly halted by government officials, "creating unnecessary danger for the CSIS team" and raising questions about ministerial accountability. The National Security and Intelligence Review Agency found no written records indicating the decision to suspend the operation had been made by the CSIS director or the minister of public safety. The review agency says that unlike typical operational matters, the case involved senior political-level actors from across the federal government. The heavily redacted review agency report provides few clues about the actors in question or the nature of the overseas CSIS operation. However, it says the decision to halt the activities abroad in mid-operation caused harm to Canada's reputation, needlessly placed spies in danger and "raises serious concerns regarding CSIS's accountability mechanisms." In September 2022, the episode prompted Marco Mendicino, the public safety minister at the time, to ask the review agency to look at whether CSIS and the Public Safety Department were effectively supporting ministerial responsibility. Ultimately the sensitive operation in question was allowed to proceed after a delay. But the review reveals that senior CSIS officials had difficulty grappling with its temporary suspension. At one point, the CSIS director sent an email to senior officials within key security and intelligence portfolios stating, "time is quickly running out and the situation is getting much more tense on the ground. We need a decision tomorrow." The report indicates there was also uncertainty over who had authority to resume the operation. The review agency found that CSIS and the Public Safety Department failed in their responsibilities to "provide timely and accurate information" to the public safety minister about elements of the operation. The report concludes the system of ministerial accountability for CSIS "is in need of serious attention." Building a stronger system now will help prepare for future operations and reduce the likelihood of a repeat of past confusion and risk, the report adds. It recommends that when a decision affecting an active CSIS operation is not made by the spy service's director or delegates, it must come as a direction from the public safety minister and should be accompanied by a written record. It also urges the public safety minister to ensure the deputy minister obtains any information required to fulfil their responsibility to provide independent advice to the minister about CSIS activities and operations.
National Post
15 minutes ago
- National Post
American arrested for impaired driving at Blue Water Bridge refuses to return to Canada to 'face the music'
A Michigan man charged with impaired driving at the Blue Water Bridge was supposed to plead guilty this week in a Sarnia courtroom, but has instead refused to return to Canada to face the music, his lawyer says. Article content Article content As a result, a warrant has been issued for his arrest. Article content Canada Border Services Agency officers called Lambton OPP on July 27 around 8 p.m. about a suspected impaired driver on their side of the twin-span bridge connecting Michigan and Ontario, police said in a statement last summer. Article content Article content Christopher Wypych, 61, from Fort Gratiot, Mich., was charged with impaired driving. His licence was suspended for 90 days, his vehicle impounded, and he was released with a court date in September in Sarnia. Article content Article content The case has been adjourned multiple times since then, with a guilty plea finally scheduled for Wednesday. But when the date arrived, Wypych's lawyer, Robert McFadden, told the judge his client changed his mind and decided not to come to Canada. Article content Court staff called out Wypych's name over the public address system to ensure he wasn't somewhere in the Christina Street North building. Article content 'A warrant's appropriate in the circumstances. Mr. Wypych is not here. He hasn't responded yet to the page. He's under an obligation to be here. A warrant will be issued for his arrest,' Hornblower said. Article content Lambton OPP have issued five statements about similar incidents at the Blue Water Bridge during the past year, four of them involving U.S. residents. One of them, a 35-year-old man from Harrison Township, Mich., who took a wrong turn and mistakenly drove up to Canadian customs at the Blue Water Bridge while double the limit, recently got a $2,000 fine, a one-year driving ban in Canada, and a tongue-lashing from a Sarnia judge. Article content
