Canada's Military: What Use Are We To The World

Also, Canada is pressures on the political field by the United States. As a superpower United States is pressuring Canada to support them. During the Cold War Americans moved the nuclear missiles into Canada, even though the majority of Canadians were against it. Canada sends forces to Afghanistan to finish the

By playing a role in being a peacekeeping nation, the matter has eventually come to be an identification trait for Canada due to their previous involvement. Peacekeeping

Along with Canada’s lack of contribution, Canada’s political figures do not consider Canada a peacekeeper. The previous Prime Minister Stephen Harper had his own opinion of Canada and peacekeeping. Stephen Harper says “(Canada) out of the peacekeeping business”. The fact that the Prime Minister explicitly stated that Canada has no relevance to peacekeeping is mind boggling considering how relevant Canada used to be. When Canada’s own prime minister makes a statement about their prominence it proves how much Canada has changed. Although through Justin Trudeau,

Canadians pride themselves on being a “peacekeeping country” and many believe that peacekeeping represents a defining aspect of Canadian identity because it reflects fundamental values, beliefs and interests. Canada has been a leader in peace operations since its development that spearheaded by a Canadian. In fact, Canada’s role as peacekeeper remains the main focus of the Canadian military after its invention around 60 years ago, originally started by a Canadian. Their efforts have gained an international reputation for Canada as a significant contributor to international peace and stability. While Canada has an exemplary history in UN peacekeeping, the current extent of its contribution, both in terms of peacekeeping personnel and percentage of funds to peacekeeping missions, are on a clear decline. The belief that Canada is a peacekeeping country is misguided because recent Canadian commitment shows a sharp decline in Canadian participation in UN peacekeeping. Surprisingly, as of March 2007, Canada ranked 59th out of 114 countries in terms of military and police contributions to UN operations. Despite Canadian declined involvement in peacekeeping during the last decade, it still remains a valuable and important mission that greatly deserves Canadian resources including monetary support, resources and personnel.

Canada was brought into war due to the alliance with Britain yet they fought on their own. They had

At the end of the Great War, Canada plunged into economic darkness; the once-powerful war industry was no longer needed and factories shut down all over the country, causing unemployment for civilians and veterans alike to skyrocket. This reflected on the military of Canada; vehicles that were destroyed were not replaced; the number of permanent forces and militia barely grew. Canada’s military saw a period of inactivity that would even cause land, sea and air components merged as a singular entity due to the Great Depression’s effect on the military budget. However, the peace was not to last. As Adolf Hitler’s Germany appeared and showed the world its intentions, nations gathered and Canada committed an important act demonstrating its independence as a nation; Canada declared war. Viewed for a long time as a British colony even after Confederation, Canada took a stand against a virtually universally-recognized evil alongside the major powers of the world at the time. Canada’s participation in conflicts in many different operations throughout WWII demonstrated its military effectiveness, but its important role in the D-Day landings defined Canada’s military competency through the crucial Operation Overlord, dubbed by some as the beginning of the end of the Second World War, in Normandy. Canada’s role in Operation Overlord in Normandy solidified the military structure that is our modern military and sculpted the image of an independent nation through Canada’s military

Contrary to what any believe, the Battle of Vimy Ridge was more than “another bloodshed” to Canada as a nation. This battle confirmed Canada’s eligibility to participate on the world stage and that they are not to be trifled with by other nations. The accomplishments of the Canadian army brought respect from other countries to Canada. The Canadian army gained confidence in themselves after the victory at the battle Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was significant to the growth of Canada as a nation.

Canada and the United States are close neighbours. These two countries relationship has evolved throughout the years. World War II had a big impact on their relationship, altering it like never before. They grew closer together and they turned to each other rather than to another country. The war impacted their military relationship in contribution and changes, it made new agreements between them and brought them together in defence.

When w.w.1 and w.w.2 first broke out the position and national interest of Canada it was the protection of freedom and democracy against German tyranny fascism. For Canada`s role is that it was support and supply, but evolved into a fighting force to be reckoned with. The overall major support as almost 10 % of Canada`s population went to fight in these wars and a large work force was employed to manufacture all manner of supplies to support the war effort. In the end of the wars Canada`s military took on a role as peacekeepers. In the treaty of Versailles Canada did participate, but was barley recognized for what it had done to be respected more in that they did all the dirty work and they did not. The treaties and organizations of post-w.w.2

Which conflicts were worthy of war in Canada’s eyes? It’s agreeable that World War II was necessary because Adolf Hitler needed to be stopped. Some of the conflicts during the Cold War era were not so easy to chose whether war was justified, and to say that one is justified and another isn’t is very hard.Once upon a time a statesman said that war starts when leaders stop communicating. It makes sense if you think about it, as long as people are collectively talking and having their ideas heard they’re for the most part not fighting. War is justified when the UN says, "Yes, one country has been wronged and deserves assistance". Then it’s up to different countries as individual nations to decide whether or not they want to become involved in the war. Canada never took part in the Vietnam war as Prime Minister Pearson criticized America’s conduct of

Canada needed to go to Afghanistan to maintain world peace for many reasons. First, Afghanistan needed assistance after becoming overwhelmed with terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda which had set up training camps in Afghanistan. Secondly, people around the world were starting to doubt the effectiveness of international organizations like NATO and the UN’s. Finally, Afghanistan was becoming a training ground for al-Qaeda and Canada had to help in the fight against terrorism by going to Afghanistan. To summarize, Canada needed to go to Afghanistan to help rebuild Afghanistan, help prove that international organizations like the UN are still effective in working towards maintaining world peace, and stopping the spread of terrorism.

Peacekeeping is a legacy that has been sewn into our country’s core - Canada. Once known for its initiative and determination as open arms of peace but, the true question that we need to ask is “our reputation truly deserved” in modern day. We as Canadians, have truly fallen behind in the values, We used to hold so dear to us. Even though our world is an constant fluctuation of combat and tranquility not all areas of the world are not as fortunate but instead of sending men and women into battles to instil times of peace, we rather our pay checks as a consolation of support in third world countries that suffer from poverty, hunger and watching their future die.

The world as humans know it is seldom at peace, and numerous parties worldwide attempt to settle these conflicts in attempts to achieve global unity. In the past, there have been multiple outbreaks of war, some examples being the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Afghanistan War. Canada plays a crucial role in aiding war-struck nations, in efforts to mediate conflicts and terminate war, ultimately achieving peace and concord.

One of those missions were the peacekeeping of Cyprus. Ever since 1964, tensions had greatened between ethnic groups in Cyprus. In its attempts to protect its freedoms and peace, Canada has been aiding the country to help achieve order. In a document by veterans.gc.ca, it stated that “In total, more than 25,000 Canadian Armed Forces members have served in Cyprus over the decades. Many of them served in Cyprus more than once, participating in several rotations.” (“CANADA REMEMBERS The Canadian Armed Forces in Cyprus”1). Many men and women dedicated their time to help with the conflicts. As mentioned, most of them came back to serve again which further proves the commitment they have towards their missions. Another popular peacekeeping mission that Canada was a part of was the UN Assistance mission for Rwanda during the Rwandan Genocide. Rwanda’s massive genocide in 1994, claimed the lives of over 800,000 innocent Tutsi people. Canada responds to this by joining the UN assistance mission for the people in Rwanda. In a novel written by Sherene Razack title “Dark Threats and White Knights: The Somalia Affair, Peacekeeping, and the New Imperialism”, she mentions that “Canadian peacekeepers found themselves in the middle of the Rwandan Genocide. Early in 1994, the commander of the UN peacekeeping mission, Canadian General Romero Dallaire had gathered evidence of an approaching and well-planned Hutu massacre of Tutsis. He appealed to his Canadian superior at the UN for help.” (Razack 19). When Canada arrived at Rwanda, the mere scale of the problem scarred many, including General Romero Dallaire who demanded that help was given to the victims. Although that help never arrived, his determination had a great impact in showing how much Canada wanted to contribute to the resolvement of the genocide. These missions proved that Canada was willing to assist in bringing the peace and order needed to improve

As a well developed,superpower country Canada did a good job by providing Rwanda with military personnel,aid,humanitarian aid, and protection to the refugees after the dreadful Rwandan genocide. Firstly Canada helped the Rwandan citizens with medical help. Canada sent more than 200 medical staff in order to help the injured. Secondly, Canada sent around 400 soldier (excluding the soldiers in the U.N) in order to help to protect the innocent citizens from the killings of the rebels. Finally, Canada also helped the Rwandan citizens by helping them flee the country and enter into Canada. In conclusion, Canada acted like a role model to other country on how they were supposed to help other people with humanitarian aid, and military personnel.