It seems that Canada is on the brink of something either dismal or perhaps, if we think deeply about it, something great. Well, it may be that the carbon tax we hear so much about and pay so much to embrace may be part of it.

The threat from below the 49th parallel is real. The threat from within is also real. We don’t now have a Parliament and nobody seems to be able to make a decision on behalf of our country.

Our Prime Minister stated that he is resigning, albeit, under his terms only and he then prorogued Parliament bringing all essential law making to a halt and the carbon tax in place. This almost treasonable act, in the face of an intended invasion, be it economic or otherwise, leaves Canada very vulnerable. Can we defend ourselves? Not very likely.

What goes around comes around, or so it seems. Perhaps there is one viable answer. In past articles I have discussed the issue of introducing mandatory military service in Canada. Others have been thinking along the same lines.

If the motto of the French Foreign Legion is “March or Die”, then the motto of the Canadian Military surely is: “March or DEI”.

From his article: “Unfit For Duty: Its Time To Rebuild The Canadian Armed Forces, author David Redman writes in the C2C Journal: Ideas That Lead, on 5 December, 2024:

Canada’s last three White Papers on Defence – in 1965, 1971 and 1994 – were produced by Liberal governments that in all three cases were seeking to downsize (or even eliminate) the military”.

Susan McArthur, in an article of 16 January, 2025 speaks to the issue of mandatory national military service with the following comments:

We have witnessed the eruption of old-world disputes on Canadian streets. We tolerate blatant antisemitism, the waving of terrorist flags and mass public prayers blocking our thoroughfares. All the while complaining that this “is not our Canada…

Mandatory national service could rebuild a common thread of culture across our vast country. Young Canadians from different ethnicites and regions would find a common Canadian purpose. They would get to know their compatriots and be pushed beyond their comfort zones”.

Ironically, British actor Sir Michael Caine in an interview published 4 November, 2924 by the National Post, is also advocating the return of national service in his home country as well. He served in the Korean War during his service and feels it should be re-introduced in Britain.

This is a subject I have mentioned before as reported in The View, 5 June, 2024, so it is a wish to go ‘back to the future’ for some of us. Anyone who has served with any military, police or para-military organization will understand where these comments originate. The training in various fields, the discipline required and the comrades met are invaluable assets to a nation.

Should the President, Mr. Trump, actually invoke his threatened 25% tariff agenda on us as he wants to, and if it does actually put thousands out of work as Premier Ford has suggested, then something like national service begins to make some sense in the long run.

Our military forces are desperately under staffed human resource wise. Our fighting capabilities are sorely lacking, but, let us look beyond combat readiness as important as it may be.

Canada needs to rebuild its active forces and equip and train them properly. We also need to upgrade our reserve forces as well. Think of what they could do. Border patrol, emergency response, wildfire support, build up our NATO commitments for real! Along with creating special wildfire teams among First Nations who can lead the way, perhaps there is a chance to reduce the impact of these fires in the future.

Who is going to pay for all this, you ask. Well let me ask you this; has our carbon tax system had any measurable reduction of carbon emissions from wildfires? My guess is that the answer is a resounding “No”.