Canada compared to NATO

[MKSheppard]

I lifted this from Stuart Slade's board, which you can find here:
Slade's Board

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(Note: I wrote this on another board more on topic with Western Exit from Confederation, but thought it might benefit from analysis and general punting about by the crowd here)

Most people clicking on the link into this position piece are probably expecting a rant on Canada's poor contribution to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO). I hate to disappoint you if that is the case, because it's not.

Canada and NATO were both formed in order to provide a common front and mutual defence from a hostile political entity, but with the removal of that threat, has drifted without a real purpose. For both, this has led the various parts of each to pull in different directions, sometimes in directly opposite directions from other component portions. The absence of that threat has also led to the needed unity of purpose of both unions to give way to old dislikes, political preferences and sometimes outright hostility. It is likely that both Canadians and NATO must accept that in thier new realities(Which includes both Canada as a political union and Canada as a member of NATO), they will need to make profound and wholesale changes in order to remain intact, or more likely simply cease to exist as a whole entity.

Canada was founded for one major reason: Mutual defence against a hostile neighbour with imperial designs. Despite the good relations that Canada now enjoys with the US, it should always be remembered that the US had to be defeated in a test of arms and then deterred for several decades before they finally accepted the borders we currently have. They made no secret of the fact that until the entry of the US into WW2, they viewed Canada much in the same way that the PRC views Taiwan: Wayward sub-states. One of the major reasons that the US refused to join the League of Nations was that Canada was recognized as a nation state.

In the same moment that the US joined forces with Britain and Canada against the Axis forces, the need for a unified Canadian nation state vanished in a puff of US foriegn policy evolution. With no hostile force knocking on the 49th, the need for a Canada able to eject a hostile invading force from the south became pointless. The exit of the US threat and the massive population increase post-WW2 across the Western Provinces meant that the need for a mutual defence scheme became a "solution looking for a problem". The traditional seat of Canada's mutual defence and economic organization, Central Canada, had become accustomed to being the leader and having the other provinces follow thier lead blindly in the spirit of solidarity against the threat forces of the US. The proto-nations of Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba*, Saskatchewan*, Alberta* and British Columbia, each with a clear and easily distingushed cultural identity, each has sought to chart it's own independent course to ensure it's success. This independence movement, as natural as the rising sun, makes the Central Canadians very nervous, as it would mean the the loss of trillions of dollars in resources and sattelite nations. In order to try and invent a purpose for remaining confederated, Central Canada has tried to use invented reasons for unity and confederation. These have ranged from propaganda stating that the Western Nations were actually a threat themselves in the form of being "uneducated rednecks" and "closet nazis" to outright attempts to crush Western economic strength to trying to create poorly staged melodramas in Central Canada around a potential exit of Lower Canada to even passing a "Canadian Constitution" that represents one of the poorest pieces of western legal writing ever seen. They also maintained an unbalanced electoral system to ensure that control over the confederation always remains in Central Canada, regardless of population.

In summary, the confederation of Canada reached a cross-roads on December 7th, 1941 when the US went to war with the Axis powers and the die was cast when that war time alliance continued into being a close business relationship post war. The only viable options for the nations of Canadian confederation are to either re-negotiate confederation to reflect the new reality that we've been living in since the mid-1950's or simply disband the confederation and chart our courses as the nations that we all are.

*Granted, these proto-nations were created as a result of the creation of Canada, but it's a matter of grounding yourself in reality to understand that these provinces, like Ontario and Quebec(Central Canada), are not simply going to vanish in a puff of smoke if we scrap the BNA/CCA.

"I shall not go into the question of Canada being able to defend this Colony; I do not believe, Sir, that Canada is able to defend itself."-Dr.
John Sebastian Helmcken and accurately predicts the position of British Columbia in Canada March 9, 1871

[phongn]

You should at least credit the author in question (Boydfish), though.

[MKSheppard]

You should at least credit the author in question (Boydfish), though.

Meh, I was afraid some people would leap onto that guy's name

[Sea Skimmer]

Meh, I was afraid some people would leap onto that guy's name

We call those people morons.

[Xenophobe3691]

You should at least credit the author in question (Boydfish), though.

Meh, I was afraid some people would leap onto that guy's name

Why would they do that?

[kojikun]

im not sure what the point of this article is..

[Xenophobe3691]

im not sure what the point of this article is..

To show that Canada, like NATO, was only created in direct response to an outside, powerful threat. Now that that threat is gone, they don't know what to do with themselves other than watch porn, eat cheetos, and wonder why their collective dicks are orange...

[kojikun]

To show that Canada, like NATO, was only created in direct response to an outside, powerful threat. Now that that threat is gone, they don't know what to do with themselves other than watch porn, eat cheetos, and wonder why their collective dicks are orange...

i didnt know canadians had orange dicks and why is showing that canada was like nato important?

[Tsyroc]

To show that Canada, like NATO, was only created in direct response to an outside, powerful threat. Now that that threat is gone, they don't know what to do with themselves other than watch porn, eat cheetos, and wonder why their collective dicks are orange...

i didnt know canadians had orange dicks and why is showing that canada was like nato important?

I think he's implying that they didn't wash their hands after eating the cheetos....

[kojikun]

I think he's implying that they didn't wash their hands after eating the cheetos....

well thats just silly!