We live a very peaceful life in Canada. It was surprising though the other day when in an interview on Global Television, Tom Clark asked Ottawa’s chief of the defence staff his major concern for Canadians. Without hesitation, General Tom Lawson said his main concern was a natural disaster. He made no reference to any threats from the jihadists of the Middle East. He did note that we were well protected by moats on the east and west of our country known as the Atlantic and Pacific, as well as on the north.
The natural follow up to that answer was obviously the nature of the natural disaster that can cause concern. The General and his interviewer left that to our imagination.
What the answer did was make a lie of the Conservative government’s security legislation that is intended to convince Canadians of the threat from home grown terrorists. It is almost as though the party in power is looking for a Canadian 9-11 event that will make Canadians accept the Conservative’s police-state.
All that Canadians have witnessed to-date has been the occasional mentally ill individual taking on police, shooting a soldier or otherwise seeking attention. In a country of over 35 million people, that type of event flies under the radar of many citizens.
But what are General Lawson’s military personnel able to do if trouble comes? If the disaster in Lac Mègantic for example had taken place in Montreal, it would have taken a major effort by Canada’s army to assist local authorities to provide aid and order when casualties could be in the tens of thousands.
And when you consider the growing numbers of abnormal weather events across North America, you start to wonder just how prepared Canada’s military is to provide the necessary assistance. Sure, we had a good laugh some years ago about Toronto’s mayor calling in the army because of a larger than usual snowfall, yet the army seemed as confused as the mayor about what to do about it.
We have a federal government that has not only been ignoring climate change but accelerating it on behalf of their friends in the oil and gas industry. The unusual in the weather department seems to be becoming the norm.
The question is whether the Canadian military is as prepared as it could be? It is the Conservative’s penchant for taking funds from where they might not be noticed that worries us. Are we really properly prepared if trouble comes?
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Copyright 2015 © Peter Lowry
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