Problems of a Defence Policy for Canada
| Author | Ronald S. Ritchie |
| Published date | 01 September 1959 |
| Date | 01 September 1959 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070205901400306 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Problems
of
a
Defence
Policy
for
Canada
RONALD
S.
RITCHIE*
ELDOM
in
peacetime
have
Canada's
defence problems forced
Sso
many
crucial
questions
into
the
field
of
consciousness
of
so
many
citizens
as
during
the past
few
weeks
and
months.
Both
the
attendant
confusion
and
the
growing
clarification
were
mirrored
in
the
June
panel
discussions
on
defence
at
the
Institute's
annual
conference, held
this
year
at
Saskatoon.
The
long
months
of
uncertainty
over
the
fate
of
Canada's
own
Arrow,
followed
by painful
decision
and
even
more
painful
economic
aftermath,
focused
the
attention
of
Canadians
on
questions
both
of
allied
strategy
in
the
defence
of
North
America
and
of
Canada's
status
in
the
NATO
alliance.
Closely
related
questions
have
been posed
by
our
participation
in
NORAD
(North
American
Air
Defense
Command),
with
Canadians
forced
to
remind themselves
of
the
real
distinctions
between
integration
in
an
allied
defence
effort
and
absorption into
the
defence
forces
of
an
ally.
The
long indecision over
the
fate
of
the
Arrow and
the
defence
concept
it
represented
is
now suc-
ceeded
by
growing
uncertainty
over
the
eventual
fate
of
the
Bomarc
and
of
SAGE-a
further
forceful
reminder
that
Canada's
decision
on
military
hardware
to
be
used
on
its
soil
and
by
its
forces
is no
longer
unilateral.
Or,
if
unilateral,
at
least
no
longer
Canadian.
Nor
have
the
questions
of
the
past
few
months
been
limited
to
those
arising
out of
the
problems
of
North
American
defence.
The
once
strong
arm
of NATO's
European
defence
forces
repre-
*
Mr.
Ritchie
is an
economist
now
living
in
Toronto,
and
the
author
of
NATO-The
Economics
of
an
Alliance.
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