Wheres the debate on Canadas foreign policy?
There goes another election and, with it, another opportunity to have a national discussion about Canada’s role on the world stage. There’s no question there were larger priorities for Canadians in this campaign: The uncertainty over the economy big-footed even the traditionally pressing matter of the state of health care. And it’s true, foreign policy has rarely dominated a Canadian election. Political studies professor Kim Richard Nossal of Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., says it happened only four times: in 1911 when free trade and naval expenditures were an issue; 1917 when debate raged on conscription; 1963, when defence policy dominated the campaign; and 1988, when free trade was the defining issue. Yet despite Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan, there was little room in the election campaign this time around for a substantive discussion on international affairs, even where Afghanistan was concerned. More than ever, it seems foreign policy as a whole has been relegated to
