I posted a piece at CIC today on Canada providing a potential alternative to the German Defence Minister as Secretary General of NATO. The piece got cross-posted to The Globe and Mail where it picked up more than a few critical comments. It turns out that many Canadians are not big fans of MacKay.
Frankly, neither am I. I don't like how DND has been run the past several years, especially with evasion of hard choices and the dumb set of cuts on operations and maintenance. But Sec Gen candidates are usually ex-Prime Ministers or ex-Defence Ministers. I cannot imagine Canada putting forth Paul Martin or Jean Chretien, eh? So I posed the one possibility. And geez, the response has me admiring the passion of these folks.
I am sure both CIC and G&M are thrilled to get the traffic, but I was not really trolling. One of the question I get asked a lot and I have a hard time answering is: what did Canada get in terms of influence from the heavy price it paid in Kandahar. If Canada got the Sec Gen seat at NATO, that would answer the question pretty clearly.
I doubt that Canada will get that seat, as it really is a European game. If it cannot be Canada, I hope it goes to Poland or Romania. I am just really glad that CIC kept the poker reference for the title.
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