Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ubc-vision.CDN Path: utzoo!utcsrgv!ubc-vision!woodham From: woodham@ubc-vision.CDN (Bob Woodham) Newsgroups: can.politics Subject: re: Canadian Military Message-ID: <797@ubc-vision.CDN> Date: Wed, 16-Jan-85 20:56:25 EST Article-I.D.: ubc-visi.797 Posted: Wed Jan 16 20:56:25 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 16-Jan-85 23:43:47 EST Organization: UBC Computational Vision Lab, Vancouver, B.C., Canada Lines: 35 I am always disturbed by talk of war with winners and losers. It is ludicrous to think that a military buildup, conventional or otherwise, could defend Canadian sovereignty from overt attack. Parading around with new weapons may make Canadians feel more secure but surely that is an illusion. Reality is more subtle. Sovereignty does demand strength but the nature of that strength is no longer military. Some years ago, the US proposed to send oil tankers through the northwest passage. Canada was concerned because of the potential damage an oil spill would cause to the arctic environment. The official US position was that the passage was in international waters and Canada had no jurisdiction. The official Canadian position was that the passage was inland waters and Canadian regulations would have to be satisfied. There was intense posturing on both sides. In days gone by, it might even have been something to go to war over. In the end, Canada more or less won out and extensive modifications were made to the tanker ship Manhatten. In my view, the reason was simply that Canadian ice-breakers were essential to the project and the possibility that Canadian ship support would be withdrawn was enough to sway the outcome. Canada could assert its sovereignty because it had an appropriate presence in the region. Acid rain is a serious long-term threat. What will be required to assert Canadian sovereignty over our lakes and vegetation? Canadians are fortunate to inhabit a large and resource rich chunk of land. Sovereignty does not follow from divine right supported by military might. Sovereignty follows from social, economic, technical and cultural strength. It my view, the best path to security is collectively to perfect the skills required to be successful in our own environment. That is the most effective leverage against the destruction of either ourselves or our environment. I would feel more secure if I were sure that militarism could be made obsolete. Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. provided hopeful examples. That is the kind of strength that I look to in this star-wars age.