John Robson: Canada Must Be a Reliable Security Partner for Its Allies

Commentary At some point Canada must have an election. And for any hope of becoming a serious country, the ballot question must be “How can we become a reliable security partner for our Western allies?” Not whether. How. I acknowledge other crucial contenders like “How can Canada avoid insolvency?” Or “How can Canada restore the family?” But precisely because of our penchant for ignoring vital matters, we must start with the most important and most urgent, namely security. The core duty of the state is to protect the polity. As John Locke said, our entire political system is a bargain among citizens to secure our natural rights by creating an authority to whom we delegate that task and the requisite powers. So clearly that authority must protect the bargain itself or it doesn’t matter what else we agreed to....