Robert Fowler, a former deputy minister of defence, illustrates the challenge of speaking truth to power privately, much less to the public. Responding to the allegation that in 2003 few in Ottawa realized that the deployment to Kabul would draw Canada into a long-term military operation, Fowler claims just the opposite was true. In the departments of Defence and Foreign Affairs, there was “a world-weary and very deep understanding . . . that we were in Afghanistan for the long haul,” he says. And yet, in their advice to ministers, both civilian and military officials framed the options around an exit strategy that would allow Canada to withdraw most of its troops within a year. If Fowler’s assessment is correct, it represents a stinging indictment of his former colleagues: officials failed in their most basic responsibility to warn elected leaders. This would help explain the lack of informed public discussion about the very real possibility of a long-term commitment in Afghanistan.
While this taboo against openness has contributed directly to stifling debate, even Hillier does not always come down on the side of transparency. In March 2007, dnd added an extra layer of scrutiny to virtually every access-to-information request for details about the Afghanistan mission. This may make life easier for senior officials and military leaders within dnd, and may be politically convenient for the elected leadership, but the slowing down — and at times obstruction — of the release of documents impedes debate and, arguably, reduces public support for the Afghanistan mission when documents are finally released. This issue would explode again and again, as the government faced challenges to its detainee transfer policy in federal court. It confused the public, exacerbated tensions between the government and military leaders, and ultimately led exactly where no one wants to go: General Hillier crossing the line into policy and politics.
What was worse, in response to suggestions that Canada move from the Kandahar theatre to a less dangerous province, Hillier stated that such a move made no sense. “All your investment in an area now actually goes down the tubes,” he explained. “The logic of just picking that up and moving somewhere else and having any effect for some years is just not there.” Hillier had clearly crossed the line into the domain of policy. Where Canada’s military goes is a matter for the government, and the government only, to decide. (And it may well see a logic to moving the CF out of Kandahar, as was the case in 2005 when Canada moved its forces out of Kabul.) Hillier’s responsibility is to provide advice on the operational feasibility of a move, not to decide whether moving would adversely affect Canada’s investment in Afghanistan.
There is a case where Hillier played a central role in crafting defence policy, but not as a rogue officer who challenged the civilian leadership. Rather, he did so at the request of a prime minister frustrated by the absence of policy ideas coming from the civilian bureaucracies.
It is the responsibility of senior public servants in all departments, including dnd and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (dfait), to develop policy options, evaluate them, and then present proposals to their respective ministers (who in turn bring them to Cabinet). Searching for new policies in a world changed by 9/11, Prime Minister Martin charged senior civil servants at dnd and dfait, and indeed across the government, to produce an integrated defence, diplomacy, trade, and international development policy for Canada in the twenty-first century. More than a year later, new ideas were scarce, and little had been accomplished. Frustrated, Defence Minister Bill Graham asked Hillier, newly appointed as cds, to craft a defence policy statement that would satisfy Martin’s ambition. It was a direct request, and within one month Hillier had taken a draft dnd policy document, framed it within the overarching challenges created by failed and failing states, and developed an agenda for the transformation of Canada’s military to meet those challenges.
Canada’s current mission to Kandahar, of which Hillier is the principal architect, reflects that agenda. Hillier put together the package of five military components that define it — in Kandahar, a provincial reconstruction team, command of the multinational headquarters, deployment of jtf 2 special forces, a combat infantry task force, and a strategic advisory team in Kabul. Hillier’s central role in designing and championing the Kandahar mission to both Martin and Harper has profoundly influenced the course of Canadian defence and foreign policy. It is more than curious that the responsibility for generating such a policy was not grabbed by senior civil servants — a move that would have certainly raised the issue of too little “civilian control.” This said, many of these same public servants were as frustrated by a sclerotic process of decision-making and micromanagement by the prime minister’s office. Hillier, in other words, was asked to fill a void in a dysfunctional policy-making system. He did not take control of policy from civilians; he was given control of policy by elected leaders.
The balance between civil servants inside dnd and military leaders is the fulcrum on which good policy rests. National Defence Headquarters was created in 1972. Over time, its structure and organization have evolved so that today civilians and military officers work side by side, and many positions can be filled by either. Despite this cross-fertilization, ndhq remains a house divided, with two large, separate bureaucracies ultimately responsible to the cds and the deputy minister, respectively. The role of the deputy minister and the civilian defence bureaucracy is not outlined precisely in statute, leaving it open to interpretation and delegation by the minister. It now encompasses broad responsibilities: defence policy, financial administration, public affairs, and procurement. In contrast, the mandate of the cds is clearly delineated in the National Defence Act as having responsibility for “the control and administration of the Canadian Forces,” under the direction of the minister. A forceful and assertive civilian leadership provides the essential challenge to the military and support to the minister. It is the sine qua non for responsible decision-making that executes the will of the elected government.
Military organizations function very differently from their civilian counterparts. They have distinct traditions, practices, and cultures, and value authority, hierarchy, rank, and discipline. These practices and traditions serve the military well, whether soldiers are going into battle or are engaged in peace enforcement activities. As Hillier put it in one of his less subtle moments, “We are not the public service of Canada. We are not just another department. We are the Canadian Forces, and our job is to be able to kill people.”
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