Harper pledges to boost military presence in cities
Wednesday, December 28th, 2005
CBC News
Last Updated: Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper was back on the campaign trail this week, promising to beef up military presence in major cities to respond to emergencies.
“A large number of our cities have no military presence,” Harper said while campaigning on Vancouver Island Tuesday.
If he’s elected Jan. 23, Harper said, territorial battalions made up of 100 regular troops and 400 or more reservists would be stationed in Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, the Toronto area and other major metropolitan areas.
“This is a full military presence,” he added. “Obviously we would anticipate that its domestic need would be in case of disaster…but obviously they would be military forces that could be forward-deployed in the event of more serious military conflict elsewhere.”
The Conservative leader said he would boost the military’s presence in British Columbia and across Western Canada because the West Coast is vital to national sovereignty.