While some elements of the right have chosen to oppose a stronger Canadian military and side with Canada’s adversaries, former Prime Minister Stephen Harper is one of the most principled Canadian voices in favour of a secure and sovereign Canada.
Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expressing his support for utilizing military spending as a way to get moving on developing Canada’s Arctic infrastructure.
Harper was speaking at the Nunavut Arctic Sovereignty and Security Summit, noting the importance of military development to build up the region:
“We need to have the full range of transportation and communications infrastructure … quite frankly, the easiest way to develop those logistics is through military development,” Harper said during a fireside chat at the Nunavut Arctic Sovereignty and Security Summit.
He said military spending has long been a catalyst for building roads and airports in the North. Iqaluit is built around an 8,000-foot airport runway constructed by the U.S. military during the Second World War.
“This is the biggest and most effective way to create the most basic, wide ranging infrastructure,” Harper said.
“And if we can do that and then build on that, that makes it then so much easier to bring in materials for construction, or economic development, or fly in food. Get things at a critical mass where prices can come down. Build housing more effectively.”
Harper also made another essential point, noting that the government needs to take a long-term view towards building the nation:
“Try and take a broader long-term view,” he said, recalling how eyes would roll in Ottawa when his government proposed building a port in Iqaluit, or the Canadian High-Arctic Research Station in Cambridge Bay, Nvt., or the highway to Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T.
“And I always used to say, these are the things, the nation-building things are the things that people will remember,” he said. “They’re the things that will define your time in government.
“Don’t get hung up on the dollars today, or kind of the immediate needs. Think about what you’re doing in terms of the bigger picture.”
Canadian leadership worth emulating
Since U.S. President Donald Trump began making annexation threats against Canada, former Prime Minister Harper has been a staunch voice in defence of Canadian sovereignty.
Harper strongly pushed back against Trump’s lies about Canada-US trade, and said Canada should be prepared to pay any price to preserve our sovereignty:
And, unlike some of the ‘new right’ who side with Russia, Harper was staunchly in Ukraine’s corner and called out Vladimir Putin long before most other world leaders did so.
This is a notable contrast to some of the right-wing voices who are critical of increased military spending and who oppose aiding Ukraine. A portion of the right-wing base has been manipulated by Russian propaganda narratives, and some on the right are too weak to stand up to that manipulation and instead pander to it.
By contrast, Harper shows the kind of strength of character and values Canada needs right now. As Prime Minister Mark Carney undertakes the rebuilding of Canada’s military and infrastructure, he would be wise to heed Harper’s words.
Spencer Fernando
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