Forsaken Warriors by Aaron Gunn
- Thread starter ArmyRick
- Start date
OldSolduer
Army.ca Relic
- Reaction score
- 14,696
- Points
- 1,140
Trudeau Sr started it. Canada has a history of being unprepared for war.
Last edited:
GK .Dundas
Army.ca Veteran
- Reaction score
- 1,452
- Points
- 960
Technically John A. McDonald starred it. Although you could probably make the argument that it was the Family Compact.
- Reaction score
- 5,411
- Points
- 1,260
There are two big issues in Aaron Gunn's film and I'm going to ignore the clusterf__k that is DVA:
The key moment for Canada is circa 1968. The Liberal Party had polled carefully and they had decided that appearance mattered more than policy and so they pushed aside the fiery Québec labour leader Jean Marchand and selected 'public intellectual' Pierre Trudeau, a silk stocking socialist, to lead the party.
I was told by a source I consider 100% reliable, someone who was in the next room when the meeting ended, that one of PET's early acts was to brief a subset of his cabinet, his P&P (planning and priorities) committee, which included some of his closest allies and some who were worried about his leadership, on his personal aim for Canada: he wanted to disarm the country - to, essentially, withdraw from the US-led West and focus on our internal, domestic concerns, including the environment. His cabinet colleagues, even his closest. allies, were horrified and they told him that he would quickly lose the party's leadership and his high office if he tried.
Trudeau. explained his goal in terms of the 1960s: The
, he said, which was then embroiled in the Vietnam War, was a least as great a threat to global peace and security as was the USSR. NATO, he said, had served its purpose. Stalin's expansionism had been contained, and NATO was now more problem than solution. 
, he said, was safe, the had an overarching strategic vital interest in securing our sovereignty for us; we didn't need a military except for an internal security force, perhaps something like the French CRS (les Compagnies républicaines de sécurité) based in the RCMP.
Under intense political pressure from his own cabinet, PET backed away from disarmament but he quickly pushed through his plan to cut Canada's NATO commitment in half and then he published his infamous 'Foreign Policy for Canadians.' Mitchell Sharp signed it but it was written, mainly, by PET's foreign policy guru Ivan Head and it reflected Trudeau's views about the
, about the (it almost ignored it) and .
Most Canadians were 'progressives' and, circa 1970, that meant they were anti-American and anti-war and they heartily approved of cutting the defence budget, bringing the troops home, and spending on social programmes instead.
Not much changed in the 1980s and '90s. We all remember 9/11 and we all remember that Prime Minster Chrétien, quite reluctantly, agreed that Canada had to do something to support the USA - the something grew, under both Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin to be a full-blown operation in Kandahar province - but it was never popular with either the Liberal government or the country.
Even Stephen Harper, who wanted to repair relations with the and with other allies, understood that he did not have broad public support to increase the defence budget and to rebuild the Canadian Armed Forces. Canadians were, grudgingly, willing to give the military what it needed to fight in Afghanistan but no more. They still believed the PET was right and George W Bush was a war monger.
The key moment for Canada is circa 1968. The Liberal Party had polled carefully and they had decided that appearance mattered more than policy and so they pushed aside the fiery Québec labour leader Jean Marchand and selected 'public intellectual' Pierre Trudeau, a silk stocking socialist, to lead the party.
I was told by a source I consider 100% reliable, someone who was in the next room when the meeting ended, that one of PET's early acts was to brief a subset of his cabinet, his P&P (planning and priorities) committee, which included some of his closest allies and some who were worried about his leadership, on his personal aim for Canada: he wanted to disarm the country - to, essentially, withdraw from the US-led West and focus on our internal, domestic concerns, including the environment. His cabinet colleagues, even his closest. allies, were horrified and they told him that he would quickly lose the party's leadership and his high office if he tried.
Trudeau. explained his goal in terms of the 1960s: The
, he said, which was then embroiled in the Vietnam War, was a least as great a threat to global peace and security as was the USSR. NATO, he said, had served its purpose. Stalin's expansionism had been contained, and NATO was now more problem than solution. , he said, was safe, the had an overarching strategic vital interest in securing our sovereignty for us; we didn't need a military except for an internal security force, perhaps something like the French CRS (les Compagnies républicaines de sécurité) based in the RCMP.Under intense political pressure from his own cabinet, PET backed away from disarmament but he quickly pushed through his plan to cut Canada's NATO commitment in half and then he published his infamous 'Foreign Policy for Canadians.' Mitchell Sharp signed it but it was written, mainly, by PET's foreign policy guru Ivan Head and it reflected Trudeau's views about the
, about the (it almost ignored it) and .Canadians liked it.
Most Canadians were 'progressives' and, circa 1970, that meant they were anti-American and anti-war and they heartily approved of cutting the defence budget, bringing the troops home, and spending on social programmes instead.
Not much changed in the 1980s and '90s. We all remember 9/11 and we all remember that Prime Minster Chrétien, quite reluctantly, agreed that Canada had to do something to support the USA - the something grew, under both Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin to be a full-blown operation in Kandahar province - but it was never popular with either the Liberal government or the country.
Even Stephen Harper, who wanted to repair relations with the
and with other allies, understood that he did not have broad public support to increase the defence budget and to rebuild the Canadian Armed Forces. Canadians were, grudgingly, willing to give the military what it needed to fight in Afghanistan but no more. They still believed the PET was right and George W Bush was a war monger.
OldSolduer
Army.ca Relic
- Reaction score
- 14,696
- Points
- 1,140
" a silk stocking socialist"
I never heard that term - until now. I reckon "champagne socialist" or "limousine liberal" are apt descriptions as well.
How about "Rolex and silk suit socialist"?
I never heard that term - until now. I reckon "champagne socialist" or "limousine liberal" are apt descriptions as well.
How about "Rolex and silk suit socialist"?
I watched this film last night in the wee hours, and was definitely worth the watch.
Aaron puts a lot of effort into his documentaries and makes an effort to interview a lot of people relevant to whatever the subject matter is, good on him
Aaron puts a lot of effort into his documentaries and makes an effort to interview a lot of people relevant to whatever the subject matter is, good on him
Eagle_Eye_View
Full Member
- Reaction score
- 53
- Points
- 360
I watched it too, and I got trigger after watching the part where she’s been trying to get an elevator for her wheelchair for the past 6 years. Instead she was offered MAID.
