You don’t need to be either a drummer or an historian to know that Steve Harper has a lousy sense of time. An example was his decision last week to herald what was supposed to be a new defence spending announcement in Halifax, conveniently near a venue where some impressive hockey was being played.

Now I’m not saying that the reason for Steve’s visit to the land of defeatist attitudes was simply to see a game, though the timing of the visit probably seemed to him as serendipity at its best.

No, instead I follow those who suggested that most of the spending had been announced before; it was announced without any international policy framework, and delivered with some troubling claims. Steve claimed, according to a report from CP, that the $30 billion he was committing was because “renewal of the Canadian forces is the most pressing priority.” Now I hate to be a spoiler, author of a drive-past smearing, but you gotta know, Steve, that that’s gonna come as a heck of a disappointment to the more than one-in-five Canadian kids living in poverty.

It was reported that Peter MacKay added: “Otherwise, you forfeit your right to be a player. You are the one chattering on the sidelines that everyone smiles at but nobody listens to."

Makes one think that Peter was a bit confused about venues, that he thought mistakenly he was at the Casino. I like Peter and I respect his mom a lot. Cripes, he even took me to lunch in the Parliamentary Restaurant!

But there are days when he reveals just a bit too much. And sometimes ill-chosen words have a way of coming back to kick you in the butt.

So it was that within a week, the Star, Globe and CBC were running stories that Canada would not even try to compete this time to seek a seat on the Security Council of the UN (after traditionally winning a seat every 10 years or so). The reason; we were afraid that we couldn’t beat Portugal.

Worse still, our likely loss would not be because we needed more muscular military spending, but because we haven’t been spending enough in Africa; we failed to support major environment initiatives to save numerous island nations from finding themselves under water as soon as global warming melts the polar ice fields; because our human rights reputation was becoming tarnished; because we’re seen as being too close the Bush Administration and to American foreign policy, unable accordingly to serve as a broker between the U.S. and the rest; because we have a Minster of Foreign Affairs who appears to be having trouble keeping his eye on the ball; and, frankly, because we’re just not liked as much as we used to be on the world stage.

It appears, that is, that we could triple our military procurement and the only folks who would think better of us are those who win the contracts to build the stuff. Sure, our forces need better gear, especially those in Afghanistan. But I’m pretty sure that many rank and filers and their families would be happier with better pay and a more sustainable, respected policy posture as a long term commitment.

Steve’s bad timing was exacerbated by a subsequent claim, again cited in CP, from Lt.-Gen. Walter Natynczyk, Canada's No. 2 soldier, that the actual figure is closer to between $45-50 billion over the coming years. Not to mention the news that followed; that our helicopter purchase has again had trouble getting off the ground. Keystone Cops: episodes 47 and 48.

So I hope you enjoyed your time in Halifax, Steve, but my guess is the pleasure was all yours. And in case you haven’t got it yet, foreign policy is not a hockey game. Neither is good defence policy.

Valley forces

On a related note, a couple of weeks ago I failed to include the two military bases in the Valley as economic anchors. If what I have said above is right, while these bases are a legitimate source of pride, contribute to and are indeed welcome here, building our future on their growth seems to be less than policy-wise.

If you doubt this, chat with the folks in Cornwallis.