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.
