Whether one agrees with the joint appreciation made by our chiefs of staff or not, Canadian defence policy today has become a matter of major external and internal policy for Canada.

2. While war is most improbable in the next five or even ten years, political and technical developments face North America with the necessity of taking active. measures to defend itself.

3. United States and Canadian interests in North American defence are similar and have led to the two countries working together, particularly with regard to defence measures in the North.

4. In this, self interest and our good relations with the United States should lead Canada to play an adequate part.

5. Canada's part in joint defence should be especially related to the defence of Canada and to doing the things that we can and' should do in preference to the United States, particularly in the North.

6. As far as possible, defence measures should fit in with the civilian life of the country and he carried out through civilian agencies.

7. While the greatest emphasis should he placed on the defence of Canada in Canada, sight must not he lost of the fact that in two world wars the enemy has fortunately been beaten outside Canada thanks in part to the assistance rendered by Canada. Our concept of defence should not he static, involving a Maginot Line altitude.' We do not want a large standing army ready to fight outside Canada; but we should have the training facilities to develop forces that can fight outside Canada should that ever he necessary.

8. Applying this, our navy's primary purpose is to train personnel rather than to have ready a task force and the training should he definitely designed to equip men to fight in northern waters.

9. Generally, the size, character, training and utilization of Canada's defence forces must have regard to Canada's interest as seen by the great majority of Canadians. It is believed that they appreciate and will support policies along the lines set out here.

10. On a per capita basis the present manpower ceilings are far below what is being planned in any other country. They are about one fifth the per capita expenditure of the United States. The forces at present planned are more likely to be criticized inside and outside Canada as too small rather than too large. They will certainly be well under any limits set in consequence of any disarmament agreement or United Nations security plan.

11. The Cabinet has already agreed in principle to Recommendation No. 35 of the Permanent Joint Board on Defence, providing for close co-operation with the United States as regards planning, training and equipment. At the same time the Cabinet noted that similar arrangements already existed with regard to the U.K. and other Commonwealth countries. Obviously, our interest in combined defence demands co-operation and co-ordination based on an exchange of information. Today this information is of a highly technical nature, involving specialists not only in different subjects but in different branches of the same subject, for example, Radar and Asdic, as well as wireless communication. To achieve this co-operation requires liaison at both London and Washington. Officers chosen should be men of the highest possible ability, with the smallest possible number of subordinates necessary to do the work. In this way we can keep abreast of developments in countries which are likely to he our principal allies.

12. Everything possible must he done to ensure that we obtain the utmost value for the defence dollar.⁵¹

⁵¹Le premier ministre approuva tous les paragraphes l'exception du 2^e et du 10^e en marge desquels il inscrivit un point d' interrogation.
The Prime Minister approved all paragraphs except 2 and 10. Beside the latter, he put a question mark.