Vanguard Magazine

A PROCUREMENT Ask anyone today about former Liberal Defence Min- ister Hellyer's motives behind unifying the Canadian Armed Forces, and you might think he was personally conspiring to destroy it. A review ordered by the succeeding Progres- sive Conservative government surprisingly found that – at least to the senior officers interviewed – it wasn't as con- tentious a move that the public had been led to believe. That being said, traditional military uniforms were later reinstated. by Jason McNaught NO FEELINGS, JUST ECONOMICS THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA AND THE CAF: R ead through the Liberal's brief but wide-ranging defence platform and you will find a lot to look forward to, beginning with this statement: "A Liberal government will take immediate action to ensure that Canada's Armed Forces have the equipment they need — and the support they re- quire — to protect Canada and its sovereignty, while also growing local economies and creating jobs." No government has ever set out to destroy our military … despite the rhetoric from opposition parties and overzealous commentators. Yet, for a generation, perhaps longer, there have been few reasons for the military to celebrate. Much of the blame is placed squarely on the shoulders of the Liberals. Those who subscribe to that notion point to two important events as 32 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2015 www.vanguardcanada.com justification: The unification of the forces in 1968 and the "Decade of Darkness" under the Chretien government beginning in 1993. When former Defence Minister Paul Hellyer tabled the white paper outlining the restruc- turing of the military more than a half-century ago, his government was attempting to shape the Department of National Defence into a lean, effective organization that would "provide improved command, control and integration of the military forces" while establishing Canada "as an unquestionable leader in the field of mili- tary organization." The move was extremely unpopular, and al- though it is still played off as a giant red stake that went right through the heart of the Cana- dian Armed Forces, historian J.L. Granatstein states that a review of unification of the Forces ordered by Defence Minister Allan McKinnon, under Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Joe Clark found that "unification was not uni- versally detested in the forces and, surprisingly, [the military] did not recommend its undoing." The way people remember history is often different from reality, as is the way politicians selectively use it to their advantage. Was unifica- tion good for the Canadian Forces? Most will say no, but that move represents an initiative that is continually repeated throughout succes- sive governments — Liberal or Conservative. When the economy is stagnant or shrinking, the Department of National Defence is placed in the government's palm and squeezed until any fat that remains has oozed out between the fingers of its clenched fist. Yet, there is a persistent and widespread no- tion that the Conservatives have traditionally been friendlier towards the military. Friendship is not something that a government feels. Ca- nadians should not be misled into thinking that the Department of National Defence can be in-

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