Canada's own counter-insurgency doctrine...

...is being written.

The Canadian Forces will, for the first time in its history, publish a counter-insurgency manual to give troops and their commanders insight into how to fight guerrilla wars and win hearts and minds.

The 250-page manual, Counter-Insurgency Operations, will be published by the end of the summer.

Maj. David Lambert, who writes army doctrine and procedures, said it's believed to be the first time the service has issued a book governing such operations, although from a historical perspective, guerrilla warfare is not new for Canadians...

Maj. Lambert said a draft form of the manual was initially developed in electronic form two years ago, using a British army publication as a starting point. It was sent to training officers. This final printed version will be distributed right across the army and include lessons learned from the U.S. and Britain as well as Canadian experiences in Afghanistan and Haiti.

"It's written for the operational level, but to inform the strategic and tactical level," Maj. Lambert said. "It aims at the philosophy and principles and overall concepts in which your lower level tactics and procedures are conducted."

In December, the U.S. army and marine corps issued their new counter-insurgency manual [full text here], which highlighted examples from wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam, as well as past campaigns to deal with insurgents in the Philippines, Malaya and South America...[1940 USMC Small Wars Manual is here.]

The reporter, David Pugliese, stretches hard to find a critique:

But he [David Shadwick, strategic studies professor at York University] noted it's important the military doesn't just focus on counter-insurgency missions. He pointed out that Arctic warfare expertise, which the Canadian Forces has been lacking for the past several years, will also be also important because the Harper government has highlighted its intention to expand the military presence in the north as a top priority...

I'm certain there will be major Arctic infantry combat in the not-too-distant future.