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Sovereignty, What Is It?
By
Bob Orrick
The changes in Canada's relationship with the United States since the horrific terrorists' attacks on our southern neighbour have caused some Canadians and Americans to question the wisdom of having an undefended border between our countries. From a Canadian perspective, the problem of sovereignty has become an issue of major importance. From the American perspective, safeguarding the USA from further attack - terrorist or otherwise - has become the primary issue under discussion. Canadians fear losing their sovereignty while Americans worry that their country will continue to be a target of great proportion and there is little being done to stem the flow of unwanted people into the USA. The Americans see the Canada-USA border as a sieve rather than a quasi-guarded frontier; whereas Canadians worry that their country's huge export of goods to the USA and increased American border security will translate into loses and perhaps economic hardship. For years, it seems, both Canadians and Americans have thought of their respective countries as simply an extension of their own. How many times have Canadians sojourned to the USA without much thought that they are entering a foreign country? The Americans, on the other hand, have looked to Canada and saw nothing much more than a land that could be their country's fifty-first state. In other words, the border between Canada and the USA was seen as simply a minor inconvenience. September 11, 2001 changed that, perhaps for all time.
One idea that has been touted by the American government is to establish a 'continental' zone around Canada and the USA. Although the Americans do have a problem with 'wetbacks' slipping across the Mexico-USA border, it seems that the impetus for the continental zone is aimed more at Canada than Mexico. The reason for this is, apparently, an intelligence report that at least one terrorist bent on destroying the Los Angles airport was nabbed as he left an American ferry at Port Angles, Washington. He had sailed from Victoria, BC. Also, subsequent investigations have indicated that perhaps more than a couple of terrorists holed up in Canada for a while before heading south. It is not difficult to see why the Americans are a bit leery about the 'openness' of the USA-Canada border.
Some Canadians both in and out of the federal government are tying themselves into knots worrying that if such a continental defence programme is implemented, it will mean Canada will lose its sovereignty. I find that idea hard to digest.
For years, Canada and the USA have participated jointly in military undertakings. Examples are the Pinetree Line, the Distant Early Warning [DEW] Line, the North American Aerospace Defence system [NORAD] and the long-standing combined operations of the Canadian and American navies. As well, in the 1950s, the USA maintained an air force base at Churchill, Manitoba to refuel the USAF's transport aircraft while at the same time and at the same base the US Army had the First Arctic Test Division in place. The army's unit tested cold weather gear; interestingly, many if not most of the soldiers were from the southern areas of the USA.
The Pinetree Line was a network of 33 radar stations from Vancouver Island, through Alberta, northern Ontario and Quebec to the Labrador coast. The Line cost $450 million [$150 million from Canada] and was completed in 1954. The purpose of the Line was to warn against possible Soviet long-range bomber attack.
Later, following improvement in Soviet technology and delivery capability, the Distant Early Warning [DEW] Line was begun. The line went along the Arctic coast from Alaska to Baffin Island. The USA paid the full cost of construction while Canada provided the labour through Canadian firms. Canadians manned the major stations along the Line's route. The DEW Line was completed in 1957.
"Such extensive co-operation between Canada and the U.S. to resolve the common problem of North American air defence was an important first step in the creation of the bilateral North American Air Defence Command [NORAD] in 1958 that integrated all Canadian air-defence radars and fighter forces." [Excerpt from The Canadian Encyclopaedia]
The North American Aerospace Defence system [NORAD]
came close on the heels of DEW [NORAD was announced in August 1957] and is manned jointly by Canadians and Americans. Although Americans make up the bulk of the staff, a Canadian is second in command.
Another more recent example is the underwater weapons test range at Nanoose Bay, BC. Canada provides the land and the USA provides the expertise. The range is a deep-water area where underwater weapons - torpedoes - can be tested. Ships - surface and subsurface -and airplanes from both countries use the range. Despite dire warnings from anti-American, anti-military, anti-establishment 'do gooders' of possible military disasters,' nothing untoward has ever happened at Nanoose Bay.
Canada's sovereignty is secure as long as this country has an elected parliament that decides what is best for Canada. As a good neighbour, Canada should listen to its friends and consider their advice, mull over the options and act accordingly. A shared responsibility is not a loss of sovereignty.
Bob Orrick is a private tutor of English grammar, literature, poetry and Canadian history to off-shore youngsters. His pupils hail from such places as Taiwan, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Venezuela. He was previously in international marketing, was a ministerial assistant to a provincial cabinet minister, spent a few years as a reporter then editor of a community newspaper and enjoyed a career in the Royal Canadian Navy.
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