Study says Canada is too lax on civilian oversight of the military

OTTAWA — Canada maintains a low level of civilian oversight of the military due to Parliament’s rigid party discipline, according to a new book that compares it with fourteen other democracies.

That conclusion was arrived at after a 10-year study conducted by a trio of defence experts — academics David Auerswald, Philippe Lagassé and Stephen Saideman — and reported in a new book titled: “Overseen or Overlooked? Legislators, Armed Forces and Democratic Accountability.”

“When the military makes mistakes, it can be catastrophic. So you want to have more overseers, not less,” Saideman, an international relations professor at Carleton University, told The Canadian Press.

That stark conclusion comes as the federal government under Prime Minister Mark Carney prepares to embark on a massive mil