AWOL: Canada’s defence policy and presence in the Asia Pacific
| Published date | 01 March 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020702018768474 |
| Author | Mary Young,Jinelle Piereder,Alex Brouse,David Dewitt |
| Date | 01 March 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Scholarly Essays |
Scholarly Essay
AWOL: Canada’s
defence policy
and presence in
the Asia Pacific
David Dewitt
Political Science, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Mary Young
York Centre for Asian Research, York University, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada
Alex Brouse
Government of Nunavut
Jinelle Piereder
Balsillie School of International Affairs, University of Waterloo,
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Abstract
Our focus is on Canadian defence and security activities in the Asia Pacific arena
between 1990 and 2015. While governments have asserted the growing primacy of
the Asia Pacific, we ask the following: What does Canada’s recent military and security
record tell us about the policies and operational aspects of Canadian engagement? How
might we assess these in comparison with Ottawa’s declared importance of the Asia
Pacific? What might this tell us about the near-term future of Canada’s role and pursuit
of interests and opportunities in this complex region? We present and analyze empirical
materials drawn from primary sources that inform an assessment of Canada’s presence
in the defence and security agenda of the Asia Pacific, during the period that saw
Canadian governments declare a deep interest in relations with the Asia Pacific, yet
fail to make Canada a full partner with sustained commitments.
Keywords
Canada–Asia Pacific defence and security, Canadian foreign policy, Canadian defence
policy, Asia-Pacific security, Canadian defence spending and operations
International Journal
2018, Vol. 73(1) 5–32
!The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0020702018768474
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Corresponding author:
David Dewitt, York University, Political Science, S. Ross building, 6th floor, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto,
Ontario, M3J 1P3, Canada.
Email: ddewitt@yorku.ca
Introduction
It has become commonplace for Canada’s political leaders to speak of Canada as a
‘‘three-ocean country,’’ or to declare that Canadian interests extend ‘‘from sea to
sea to sea.’’ The transatlantic relationship has a deep history extending well before
Canada’s nineteenth-century coming of age, and moving to centre stage during the
twentieth century. The Arctic and Far North share a romanticized portrayal
including exploration, maritime transit routes, and Indigenous peoples, along
with land and sea claims more recently. The Pacific is more inchoate, tied to the
‘‘mysteries’’ of the East, missionaries, great power claims, and intrusions. The Cold
War brought emergent Canadian links to East Asia and South Asia, consolidated
over the ensuing decades through various policy and operational commitments
concerning the Asia Pacific as a theatre of war, participation in United Nations
(UN) security and development commitments, and a variety of bilateral diplo-
matic, trade, and economic relations. Only the first two ‘‘seas’’ can claim a reason-
ably rich literature on Canada’s defence and security policy and operations.
In this article, we focus on Canadian defence and security activities in the Asia
Pacific arena from 1990 through 2015.
1
While federal and provincial governments
have asserted the growing primacy of the Asia Pacific, we ask the following: What
does Canada’s recent military and security record say about the policies and oper-
ations that constitute Canadian engagement? How might we assess these in com-
parison with Ottawa’s declared importance of the Asia Pacific? What might this tell
us about the near-term future of Canada’s role in pursuit of interests and oppor-
tunities in this complex region?
Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND) says little in any formal or
organized way about the government’s defence and security commitments to this
area of the world. The most recent statement, the National Defence Review’s
paper, Strong, Secure, Engaged, again pays little attention to the Asia Pacific
region, although it does announce long-term investments intended to strengthen
Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) capabilities. Most relevant to the future of
Canada’s presence in this vast arena is the commitment to acquire fifteen ships
to replace existing frigates and retired destroyers. This is matched by the acquisi-
tion of ‘‘88 future fighter aircraft ... while recapitalizing many of its exiting aircraft
fleet such as the CP-140 Aurora anti-submarine warfare and surveillance aircraft.’’
Further, Canada’s Special Operations Forces Command will expand its capacity
and capabilities. It is too soon to identify deployment that might occur between the
Pacific and Atlantic theatres.
2
However, the paper does note both the South China
Sea and North Korea as arenas of concern.
1. We use the term ‘‘Asia Pacific’’ to refer to a geographical area that includes countries bordering the
Pacific Ocean, but also those countries commonly referred to as belonging to the ‘‘Indo-Pacific’’
region. We recognize that the term is contested and that the implied distinction between ‘‘Canada’’
and the ‘‘Asia Pacific’’ is a constructed and problematic one, as the flows of people, ideas, identities,
and values are much more fluid than implied by these bounded spatial terms.
2. Minister of National Defence, Strong, Secure, Engaged: Canada’s Defence Policy (Government of
Canada, June 2017) p.34, especially chapters 2 and 4, http://dgpaapp.forces.gc.ca/en/canada-
defence-policy/docs/canada-defence-policy-report.pdf (accessed 4 December 2017).
6International Journal 73(1)
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