Canada and the United States have been close defense allies for 70 years. That cooperation has spanned participation in World War Two, the Korean War, the Cold War, the creation (and half-century maintenance) of a bilateral air defense command (NORAD), the first Gulf War, and most recently, the war on terrorism. However, there are indications that the relationship today is weakening. This paper will examine two critical issues -- the 2005 Canadian decision to reject participation in the U.S. missile defense program, and Canada's persistent low level of military expenditures and the effect that low spending has had on the Canadian Forces (CF) -- that combined suggest a significant decline in the relationship. At the same time, the paper notes that there are some recent positive signs, in particular the current increase in Canadian defense spending and mission in Afghanistan, that indicate a possible improvement, albeit one that may be tied to the electoral prospects of the Conservative government of Stephen Harper, which could face another election as early as this fall. Ultimately, the paper argues that the bilateral defense relationship is essentially a barometer of the larger political one, and a decline in the former is normally reflective of a weakening in the latter.


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