The doctrine manual Fighting Spirit: The Profession of Arms in Canada was the focus of extensive discussion within the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) when it was published in 2024, but has gone largely unnoticed outside the military. Given the rising prominence of our armed forces in Canadian affairs, public familiarity with military doctrine is warranted, if not essential.

Fighting Spirit came at the end of bruising sexual-misconduct scandals of the 2010s and 2020s and was meant to (finally) cement the CAF to their parent society and its values. Its authors claim this has been done, that the CAF have adopted an ethos in line with Canadian society.  Yet a close inspection of the document reveals that our armed services are resisting fully integrating with the civilian world. The door to continued dysfunction and turbulence remains open.

A history of tension with “civilianization”

After the Second World War, the armed services enjoyed a brief period of growth and policy ascendency. This ended in the 1960s, when the Forces failed to make a convincing case for significant and expensive conventional middle-power forces in a thermonuclear, superpower-dominated world. 

Civilian dissatisfaction resulted in unification of the different armed services into the Canadian Armed Forces as an attempt to fix both structure and policy development, leading to military foot dragging and pushback. 

Civilians intervened again with the 1971 management review group, which ended the independent Canadian Forces headquarters and merged it with the civilian Department of National Defence.

Canada needs more defence autonomy in a less reliable world Podcast: Rethinking Canada’s Defence Strategy for a Changing World

Canada needs more defence autonomy in a less reliable world

Podcast: Rethinking Canada’s Defence Strategy for a Changing World

During the 1970s the armed services entered a period deeply hostile to Canadian society.   There was a fear of “civilianization,” not only of the national headquarters but of the fabric of the services........

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