Is Canada's Defence Policy over reliant on the United States in terms of funding initiaves and agreements for North American Defense?

1. Yes 2. No 3. Maybe 4. Don't know 5. No comments

My hypothesis would be that Canada knows that no matter what happens, the United States will fund 90% or more of costs when it comes to defense matters as such most of the times Canada gets away by 'free-riding' on the funding provided by the United States for initiatives and agreements for North American Defense. One example would be NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) in the Cheyenne Mountains, Colorado where 90% of the costs are borne by the United States.

As such, do you think Canada should pursue an independent foreign policy for defense matters or continue to co-operate with the United States and provide equal funding for the greater good of North America? If Canada continues to free-ride on the funding for initiatives provided by the United States, it could prove disastrous in the end. Imagine a terrorist attack in both Canada and United States - the United States will be concerned with defending their own citizens and Canada will be left to regret the costs of their actions due to the limited capability of our military and defense technologies.

Hello

I think this is a good idea but the question might be better phrased in a way that would generate a more general perception like maybe a question that asked "When committing Canada to overseas peace keeping missions, to what extent should the Canadian government rely on the the US for funding?" and then have 1. a lot 2. somewhat 3. not very. 4. Not at all. Or something like that then instead of just having their yes/no opinion on reliance you have their opinion on how much reliance is acceptable and a range which is helpful because you can do a lot more with these variables then just yes/no variables. Personally i think we should stay away from yes no questions because they so not encode a lot of information. Also I think we should not put things like "imagine a terrorist attack in Canada in the United States" because it might ignite fear or intense feelings that will effect the answer to the question, which re-phrased might have a different response. But I think overall the idea for this question is interesting.

Hey guys, sorry it took me a while to figure out how to reply to these posts...but i agree with both Jon- in his suggestion to keep the topic of defense more specific, and jacqueline in suggesting we refrain from fear mongering. Defense is SUCH a broad and varying topic, we need to decide if what we want is to stick to basic questions of domestic security, international issues, or "hot topics" such as the article and Afghanistan. It might also be interesting to explore the ambiguity of people's knowledge when it comes to Afghanistan and it's purpose, if we are a part of the war on terror, if it is a human right's fight...etc. I know this is a very broad topic with lots of different things to consider so I don't know if we want to go that route. Just a thought!

Julia, I don't think this question is framed as a fear mongering or meant to be framed as such. Terrorism is something that is so prevalent in today's world and is a threat that everyone should be concerned about. Canada's mission in Afghanistan was as a result of the war on terror but eventually it evolved into a peace-keeping mission to create stability in Afghanistan.

I totally agree, Bala. Terrorism/the war on terror is unfortunately something that has been framed in a negative light in terms of scandal with the United States e.t.c. and a lot of people would probably be opposed to it at first site of the words on a page. Framing the mission as a peace keeping one and then seeing the response comparatively with a response to a terror-framed question could also be interesting to explore..

Hey everyone,

Great discussion going on, but there are many ideas being thrown around in one single thread. I made a new post with a compiled list from this thread, if there are any missing feel free to edit them into the top. If we could just create new threads for each separate question to discuss them that would be great. Just follow the directions on the top and if you have any questions/suggestions, leave a reply. Thanks!

Someone should put this question up on the board. It compliments the question on GDP and speaks directly to our relationship with the US

You could preface it with:

Canada's relationship with the US is important with regards to our economic and national defense issues

1. Strongly Agree 2. Agree 3. Neutral 4. Disagree 5. Strongly Disagree

Then pose your question. I think that would be great. What do you guys think?

I personally like this idea. We have to acknowledge that as much as we are our own entity there are a lot of outside influences, alliances e.t.c. that play into issues of defense. I like Nadeems idea of getting to the point and seeing whether or not people see a direct correlation between the US and Canada in defense policies.

Hey

Yeah I would be in support of this question on the board, you can put it up yourself if you want.

I have put up the first question. Perhaps Bala can put this question up after mine on US/CDN relations? That would be a good order, and someone should also take care to make sure these questions fit logically in the order of all the other ones asked.