The decision has been made.
The announcement came after a budget where taxpayers aren’t going to see money put back in their pockets.
What we did get was a commitment from the federal government to start shoring up our military and our defense.

US Ambassador Paul Cellucci spoke strongly today about the decision announced in the House by Defense Minister Pierre Pettigrew.

Canada’s announcement that it won’t join the U.S. missile shield provoked an immediate warning that it has relinquished sovereignty over its airspace.

From now on, the U.S. government will control any decision to fire at incoming missiles over Canadian territory, declared the top U.S. envoy to Canada.

“We will deploy. We will defend North America,” said Paul Cellucci, the U.S. ambassador to Canada.

“We simply cannot understand why Canada would in effect give up its sovereignty - its seat at the table - to decide what to do about a missile that might be coming towards Canada.”

The response came just moments after Prime Minister Paul Martin ended months of ambiguity Thursday by announcing that he would not sign on to the controversial missile-defence program.

The warning was no slip of the tongue: Cellucci repeated several times that Canada’s decision had in effect handed over some of its sovereignty to the United States.

“I personally don’t think it’s in Canada’s sovereign interest to be outside of the room when a decision is made about a missile that might be incoming towards Canada.”

I’ll weigh in on what the ambassador has said.
He is correct and incorrect.

This has been a topic of interest between family and friends for some time and we’ve been waiting to see what the federal government would say.

No one I have discussed this with thinks for a second the US would consult Canada if missles were headed their way over our country. We haven’t been warned. That is diplomatic doublespeak.
Have we given up our sovereignty?
I don’t think we have. I think we’ve taken a bit back.

So, on that level Paul Cellucci is telling us what we already know. The US has been building this defense shield for years, and will deploy it whether we sign on or not. No surprise there.

We as Canadians need to step up to the plate on our own behalf and on behalf of the relationship we do have with our neighbours.

And that is precisely what the PM did today. Did Paul Martin do so because of the precariousness of a minority government? Maybe. In something this complex I doubt even Mr. Dithers would make the decision on one thing.

The US may be upset. That’s fine. How they choose to show it is up to them.

Meantime, as a Canadian who is relieved to see this decision at this point in time, I want the federal government and the Canadian people to get on to what we know we need to do. Martin laid it out.

He said though Canada remains deeply committed to security, “ballistic missile defence is not where we will concentrate our efforts.”

Instead, Canada will work on border security, reinforcing coastal and Arctic sovereignty and expanding the military.

“As part of this, Canada remains steadfast in its support of Norad,” he said.

Martin noted that the $13 billion in new military funding announced in Wednesday’s federal budget is “a tangible indication that Canada intends to carry its full share of that responsibility.”

And Paul Martin says the move won’t hurt relations with the U.S.
He is correct and incorrect.

I think it will affect Canada’s relationship with the US, in ways we can’t forsee.
I think it will affect Canada’s relationship with itself.
But maybe it’s time it did.