Talk:Foreign relations of Canada

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The U.S. has expressed concern that Canada is an illicit producer of cannabis for the domestic drug market; the use of hydroponics technology permits growers to plant large quantities of high-quality marijuana indoors. Consequently, it has a growing role as a transit point for heroin and cocaine entering the US market

This sounds like the doctrine of the DEA, not exactly a disinterested source. Is there any cite that proves hard drugs are a necessary consequence of marijuana. GreatWhiteNortherner 06:25, Feb 22, 2004 (UTC)

I was just reading this and I am concerned it is not a NPOV summary. SD6-Agent 13:59, 23 Feb 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Removed from multilateralism

"Despite Canada's track record as a liberal democracy that has whole-heartedly embraced the values of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its obvious commitment to global security, Canada has been left out of every major plan for UN Security Council Reform while larger developing countries, some of which represent threats to international peace and security, have received support in their bids."

Removed that last bit, as it isn't specific enough IMO. As is, it's impossible to know which countries constitutes a threat to international peace and security, as this depends on whoever reads it. Bjelleklang - talk 05:21, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Committed to Disarmament

I'm concerned that this article is a reflection of how some Canadians wish to think about themselves as opposed to how the country actually behaves. For instance, I see no evidence that any Canadian government has been, broadly speaking, "committed to disarmament." We are members of a military alliance that has for decades deployed nuclear weapons as the cornerstone of its defense, and while the former Liberal gov't joined with some NATO members in pressuring NATO's nuclear members to agree to a no-first-use policy the government of Canada has been very cooperative in terms of the US nuclear strategy over the years. --Ggbroad 02:43, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Peacekeeping, etc.

Some rewriting will be necessary in the section on Peacekeeping and other military operations by Canadian Forces. First of all, the operations in Afghanistan were only briefly UN-sanctioned and were not considered Peacekeeping, if I remember correctly. Canada's current military operations in Afghanistan are explicitly not-UN and are part of the United States Operation Enduring Freedom (also not Peacekeeping). Recent figures indicate that Canada is now ranked 50th among 59 countries involved in UN Peacekeeping missions, so I think the article needs to reflect that fact and related implications (i.e. the level of Canada's current conceptual commitment to Peacekeeping; UN-sponsored missions vs. US-sponsored missions, etc.). I hope to do some of this necessary rewriting, but it may take some time for me to get to it, so if there are any other editors who would like to start on it that would be great! Pinkville 17:14, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

Indeed --- many of the claims about peacekeeping seem dubious. Is it really true that Canada has, cumulatively, contributed more forces to UN peacekeeping than anyone else? (I doubt it). Is it true that Canada has somehow participate in *every* UN peacekeeping mission? At present, Canada ranks somewhere around 50th in the world in peacekeeping deployments. Check UN websites on this.

In addition, regarding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, may I point out that Canada was one of only 8 members of the UN to abstain from approving the UDHR in the plenary session? (Humiliated, the delegation rushed to reverse its vote before the General Assembly). --Ggbroad 02:34, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, looking around I can't find any evidence that Canada has contributed more to UN Peacekeeping than any other country, let alone all other countries combined. I'm removing it until it is properly cited from a good source. Sorry. --Ggbroad 02:37, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Okay. Looked at some hard data from the UN at http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/contributors/2006/june06_2.pdf Canada currently ranks 53rd in terms of deployments, with a total of 133 soldiers serving in 8 missions, not the 40 that the article claimed. In addition, Canada's total peacekeeping deployment since the beginning of the UN has been about 125,000 soldiers. Given that there are currently over 70,000 soldiers serving on peacekeeping duties worldwide it seems unlikely that Canada has contributed more troops than all other nations combined! Come on, people. This Wikipedia experiment will fail if the articles aren't more credible and carefully cited. --Ggbroad 02:56, 10 August 2006 (UTC)