Peace and Conflict Speakers Series

Canada did not come of age at Vimy, and in all of Canada’s wars both soldiers and civilians have died in vain. So why do people continue to support war in general, despite its poor record of benefits? And why, in particular, does Canada involve herself in other people’s wars? Why does Canada, never under any realistic threat of invasion, continue to fight?

In "Canada: The Case for Staying Out of Other People’s Wars", author and trial attorney William S. Geimer presents the case that Canada should end its fealty to powerful patrons like the United Kingdom and the United States and instead make a more valuable contribution to international relations. Presented as a case laid out at trial, the arguments outline a new vision and challenge the prevailing myth that Canada came of age on the world stage at Vimy Ridge during the Great War. The evidence presented contains the stories of ordinary soldiers and civilians from every Canadian war, and it traces unexamined factors that have produced foolish wars and a failure to enhance security—a failure that governments of all stripes have been unwilling to admit.Canada must follow a new and better path. Pursuing policies derived from being in other people’s wars can never provide Canada with the kind of international recognition its citizens deserve. It is past time for Canadians to talk rationally about staying out of other people’s wars. The story of those wars tells us there is a better way.
 

William S. Geimer is a retired trial lawyer and law professor. He is a veteran of the US 82nd Airborne Division. "Canada: The Case for Staying Out of Other People’s Wars" is his first work outside the field of law. William and his wife, Elizabeth Bennett, are Canadian citizens. They currently reside near Victoria, British Columbia.