Intelligence agencies exist to help officials make better decisions. Some nations have true ‘intelligence cultures’ where the value of this kind of information is recognised. Then there is Canada. Borealis laments the lack of appreciation for this source of data in his own country.
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2 replies on “The Canadian government still doesn’t get intelligence”
I concur with this analysis. Successive governments of Canada have shown a marked disinterest in, and lack of knowledge of, intelligence. Like Mr. Gurski, I have little faith that this will change at some future date.
Occasionally, there is a spike in interest in what Canadian intelligence organizations can do (and equally important, cannot do) and in the intelligence they provide – military intelligence became much more important, and sought after, when Canadian Armed Forces troops were deployed to fight in Afghanistan.
Canada has been very lucky to be part of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence alliance (the five partners being New Zealand, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States); we get far more intelligence from our partners than we contribute to them. Were the Americans and the British to cut Canada off from their intelligence, Canada would be forced to do some real soul-searching about the business. For one thing, we would quickly find out just how expensive trying to do intelligence on our own would be.
Great points Richard. Yes, we got a lot more from our partners than we give. We are truly lucky to have such great allies.