We Stand on Guard for Whom? is the first book to present a
history of the Canadian military from the perspective of its victims.
In his eleventh book, Yves Engler, the prolific author and critic of
Canadian politics, exposes the reality of Canadian wars, repression,
and military culture despite the mythologies of Canada as an agent
for international peacekeeping and humanitarianism.
Originating as a
British force that brutally dispossessed First Nations, the Canadian
Forces regularly quelled labor unrest in the decades after
Confederation. It would go on to participate in military occupations
or invasions in Sudan, South Africa, Europe, Korea, Iraq, Serbia,
Afghanistan, and Libya, as well as Canadian gunboat diplomacy and UN
deployments that have ousted elected governments. As the federal
government department with by far the greatest budget, staff, PR
machine, and intelligence-gathering capacities, this book shows how
the Canadian military is a key developer of military technology,
including chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. It also has an
immense ecological footprint and a toxic patriarchal, racist, and
anti-democratic culture.
However, as this
book shows, Canadian militarism has always been contested, as early
as opposition to conscription during World War I and as especially
during peace activism against the US war in Indochina. More recently,
city councils have declared themselves nuclear weapons free zones and
prevented hosting of weapons bazaars and, in 2003, antiwar activists
stopped Prime Minister Jean Chrétien from leading Canada into the
US-led invasion of Iraq. This book reveals the hidden militarism in
Canadian life and reminds us that the first step to contest it is to
recognize its pervasiveness and power.