Making the argument for our Navy

I was privileged to once again be invited to the fifth annual Rev. John Weir Foote, VC, CD Memorial Luncheon at the Albany Club in Toronto this past Friday. I've been fortunate enough to attend all five of these luncheons, and have thus seen LGen Leslie (back when he was a lowly MGen), Gen Hillier, Maj Bill Fletcher, and Gen Natynczyk speak to attentive audiences in Toronto. This year, in a tip of the hat to the Navy's centennial, the guest of honour was Captain (N) Art McDonald, who recently served as the Maritime Component Commander of Canadian Joint Task Force (Haiti).

While his remarks were off the record - as is standard policy at the Albany Club - I can tell you he made a better case for the Canadian Navy than I've heard from anyone else in uniform. It can be boiled down to this: relevance comes from responsiveness, and responsiveness comes from readiness. A Canadian warship is the Swiss Army knife of responses - a self-contained and cohesive platform that can do everything from fighting a battle to building an orphanage. And you don't even need to decide precisely what it's going to do before it sails.

BZ to all those at the Albany Club and DND who continue to make this such a must-attend event each year.