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The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea defines a warship thusly: “For the purposes of this Convention, "warship" means a ship belonging to the armed forces of a State bearing the external marks distinguishing such ships of its nationality, under the command of an officer duly commissioned by...

You‘re not supposed to follow manifestly unlawful orders. QR&O 19.015 has a definition — “A manifestly unlawful command or order is one that would appear to a person of ordinary sense and understanding to be clearly illegal” That leaves a lot of grey area for laws requiring deep technical...

As I recall, the tank replacement project still hadn’t selected a model and signed a contract — I believe they had narrowed the options down to M1A1, Leopard 2, Challenger 1 and LeClerc and were in the process of comparative trials when the project was cancelled at the end of the Cold War.

It‘s hard to imagine a 4-time Queen’s Medalist being ignorant of firearms regulations. Arrogance, yes, but ignorance is unlikely. But I agree on the bucket load of money this is going to cost him. If I were him, I’d also be careful about ever going back to the USA — he might be looking at...

There were 3 real organizational eras for the Canadian Airborne Regiment, as I seem to recall. I’m separated from most of my books and source material, but this is what I can piece together from memory. On standup in 1968, there were 1 and 2 Commandos that were indeed each treated as...

The bilingual version, as used by the Government of Canada and certain Montreal sports teams, is actually the most religious version, as it includes both the English references to God and the French references to carrying the cross.

The strict 1100 timing has often been honoured more in the breach than in the observance. Once I formed up for the base service on Simonds Parade Square in Petawawa — participants were anyone who didn’t get tasked to get on a bus to one of the Ottawa Valley towns. The weather was miserable, the...

The Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988 would like a word. Ammunition consumption there was extremely high, leading to both sides sourcing ammo from wherever they could, worldwide. And that war was also similar to the Russia-Ukraine War in that both sides attempted, but struggled to achieve, breakthroughs.

Ottawa actually has a murder rate below the national average — it’s just that Ottawa residents prefer to commit their murders in the downtown core, which ensures maximum visibility.

Highest ranking member of the British Army that died on active service in Northern Ireland during Op BANNER was LGen Erskine-Crum (GOC Northern Ireland, late Scots Guards), but that was of natural causes. Highest ranking member of the British Army killed by the IRA was Colonel Eaton, Royal...

Not just court rulings. Last year’s report from the Advisory Panel to the Defence Minister made a pretty solid run at the Royal Canadian Chaplain Service. Circling the wagons to try to protect the existence of the capbadge isn’t just something for the Army Reserves. I think that the last three...

White top and blue trousers (with a red stripe!) — presumably for a snowstorm in the Pepsi bottling plant.

Such naive Islanders. You don’t pay for railroads, the railroads pay you!

So… there goes that theory. So what is the actual point of patrols? Change of command parades and weddings tend to be held in June, is the white version supposed to be the one that the troops buy first?

If the new Army Service Dress is decent and presentable, then 1C/1D patrols are indeed probably redundant for 99% of the Army. I suspect that the decision to push patrols was made without knowing about the DEU replacement project. Classic right hand/left hand.

Power would shift, but much of it would shift to the GTA and Queen’s Park. A Canada-without-Quebec would have almost exactly 50% of its population in Ontario. Admittedly, I haven’t crunched the numbers on how long that would last — Ontario‘s population is growing faster than Alberta but slower...

There‘s a difference between surviving as a country (which Quebec obviously could) and prospering as a country (which is very doubtful). Quebec currently has a GDP per capita well below the Canadian average, but that’s still ten times that of Tunisia. On the plus side, an independent Quebec...

Elections are expensive and the NDP seems to have lost the ability to fundraise. Thus, they are terrified of elections. Last I heard, they are still in debt from the last federal election. Hence, their current status as LPC lapdogs. The alternative option, multiple unstable minorities leading to...

I was thinking a little bit of both, actually. The pre-1920 force, but also given that since today, 61% of Canada’s population, a majority, live in Ontario or Quebec, I’d expect something like 61%ish of the organized crime and other federal responsibilities to be in those two provinces — maybe...

I’d extend your WAG to the ultimate objective being the quiet de-amalgamation of the RCMP back into the equivalent of its two precursor forces — the Dominion Police, a mostly plainclothes, mostly Ontario and Quebec based, force that did whatever the federal priority of day is, and the North West...