With the U.S. nuclear umbrella that the western democracies have relied on for the past 80 years becoming less reliable by the day, and Russia’s threats not by any degree decreasing, the remaining European nuclear powers of France and Great Britain have begun to assert their intention to use their resources to build a nuclear umbrella for Europe. The problem is that the nuclear stockpiles of these two nations are not nearly large enough to deter Russia.
Canada on the other hand holds two huge potential trump cards in this new global reality ( pardon the inadvertent pun ). Canada has the resources and the technology to quickly become a nuclear power and, if Canada placed nuclear weapons in its north, those weapons would be a massive deterrent to Russia.
The question is what action will Canada take? Canada rejected nuclear weapons in the 1960s, happy to let the U.S. lead. But the U.S. may no longer be a reliable ally. Does Canada then sit back and let our European allies try, on their own to take up the slack or do we take a leadership role and join in their efforts
There are those of course that will say, “Just wait, after Trump, the U.S. will return to normal, and the world will be the same as before.” But will this be the future, or just wishful thinking? Can Canada and the world depend on the U.S. ever again, if at any time, one U.S. president can betray the western world in just months. Will the future U.S. be pro-democracy or pro-authoritarian? And not just the next president, but the one after that, etc.
Canada, can of course forge its own future and not only take charge of our own defence but contribute to the defence of our friends and allies. In taking a new role as a nuclear armed nation beside France and Great Britain, Canada would achieve three significant objectives. Independence from U.S. military involvement in Canadian affairs, (ie: no more NORAD and no more claims about how they defend us), increased world standing, and unquestioned sovereignty over Canada’s north.
Canada need not invest in ICBM style missile systems or even any land based systems at all. Canada is already investing in new Submarines. The KSS III Korean submarines have vertical launch missile systems that can carry medium range nuclear missiles capable of reaching far into Russia. Those systems hidden among Canada’s northern islands. would indeed be significant detergents to Russia and any uninvited nation trespassing in our north.
So, the real question is, does Canada discard its Trudeau era “holier than thou” national persona, or stand up in an unsettled world and take our place beside our friends and allies and state our position clearly and unreservedly.
