Hill Times: Defence minister’s ex-parliamentary secretary says Canada should join ballistic missile defence
A Liberal MP who was the defence minister’s parliamentary secretary until January says it’s time Canada join the controversial United States-led ballistic missile defence program….
University of Manitoba’s deputy director of the Centre for Defence and Security Studies Andrea Charron said the Defence Committee should hear from “people to explain to them how exactly how difficult it is, how unproven it is, how expensive it can be” to pursue ballistic missile defence.
She urged caution on the issue and noted that saying yes doesn’t necessarily mean Canada will have the final say in addressing air threats. With few interceptors, limited time, and potentially more important strategic targets to protect, a seat at the BMD table doesn’t guarantee Canada “any more say.”
“I understand the impulse to want to defend Canada but the technology is unproven. And at this point we’re talking about one particular rogue state,” she said.
“You want to usually defend against the most likely threat and the most lethal threat and the one that’s going to come often. That’s not necessarily North Korea.”