Thanks Bill. As an American subscriber, I truly appreciate your insight and viewpoints of the world from a Canadian perspective. I think our two nations took for granted the friendship we have had since time began. It is only now that we see that friendships of all kinds can get stretched thin when one side tries to become “bigger” than the other. Keep up the good work! Thank you.
I have never been what one might call a militaristic type of person. Other than playing for hours with plastic soldiers in the backyard of our suburban home I haven't participated in any military activity. However, I am the youngest in a family of eight children and my father was born in 1918, at the end of World War I, and fought as a Bombardier in the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. Most of my older siblings were relative neutral or anti-war but a couple of brothers were drawn into the army cadets as youth.
But my own feelings towards the military are mixed. I am now 63 and living with Alzheimer's Disease so am quite unlikely to be asked to volunteer for any kind of active duty but, with Mr. Trump's bombastic suggestions of annexing Canada and Greenland, I find myself challenged in just sitting back and not responding to his aggressive and seemingly dismissive statements about our country.
Considering the circumstances, I believe that we, as a nation, absolutely MUST devote at least the recommended percentage of our national GDP towards our military spending as soon as is rationally possible.
While I understand that taxes may already be high by many people's standards, we cannot allow ourselves to be trampled underfoot by militaristic and aggressive neighbours, regardless of however friendly our relations have been thus far.
We have served in all major wars where we have been called upon and we certainly won't stand by and be overcome without responding to our fullest capacity. We must immediately begin increasing that capacity to meet any potential challenges in front of us. Canadians can be your best friends and stand by you through thick and thin. But if you attack us, we will do everything we can to become your worst enemy. Elbows up, indeed!
I am also skeptical of the gold dome. I think Canada should not commit at this time. Let them build it first for the U.S.
My suspicion is that they need Canada’s participation to make it effective, but I also don’t trust trump or the U.S. now. I think the goal post on cost will continue to move especially under trump. He wants our money and once we hand it over, I just doubt the dome will ever be built especially under trump. Once he is gone, we will probably findnout he took our money with him.
I also think this pressure to spend more on defence is about buying American weapons. It’s always about money with trump! I think we should buy our planes and submarines elsewhere. If we end up in a war with the U.S., which may seem unlikely at this time because they are having their own war at home (protests), it would be better to have European weapons.
Thanks Bill. As an American subscriber, I truly appreciate your insight and viewpoints of the world from a Canadian perspective. I think our two nations took for granted the friendship we have had since time began. It is only now that we see that friendships of all kinds can get stretched thin when one side tries to become “bigger” than the other. Keep up the good work! Thank you.
I have never been what one might call a militaristic type of person. Other than playing for hours with plastic soldiers in the backyard of our suburban home I haven't participated in any military activity. However, I am the youngest in a family of eight children and my father was born in 1918, at the end of World War I, and fought as a Bombardier in the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. Most of my older siblings were relative neutral or anti-war but a couple of brothers were drawn into the army cadets as youth.
But my own feelings towards the military are mixed. I am now 63 and living with Alzheimer's Disease so am quite unlikely to be asked to volunteer for any kind of active duty but, with Mr. Trump's bombastic suggestions of annexing Canada and Greenland, I find myself challenged in just sitting back and not responding to his aggressive and seemingly dismissive statements about our country.
Considering the circumstances, I believe that we, as a nation, absolutely MUST devote at least the recommended percentage of our national GDP towards our military spending as soon as is rationally possible.
While I understand that taxes may already be high by many people's standards, we cannot allow ourselves to be trampled underfoot by militaristic and aggressive neighbours, regardless of however friendly our relations have been thus far.
We have served in all major wars where we have been called upon and we certainly won't stand by and be overcome without responding to our fullest capacity. We must immediately begin increasing that capacity to meet any potential challenges in front of us. Canadians can be your best friends and stand by you through thick and thin. But if you attack us, we will do everything we can to become your worst enemy. Elbows up, indeed!
I am also skeptical of the gold dome. I think Canada should not commit at this time. Let them build it first for the U.S.
My suspicion is that they need Canada’s participation to make it effective, but I also don’t trust trump or the U.S. now. I think the goal post on cost will continue to move especially under trump. He wants our money and once we hand it over, I just doubt the dome will ever be built especially under trump. Once he is gone, we will probably findnout he took our money with him.
I also think this pressure to spend more on defence is about buying American weapons. It’s always about money with trump! I think we should buy our planes and submarines elsewhere. If we end up in a war with the U.S., which may seem unlikely at this time because they are having their own war at home (protests), it would be better to have European weapons.