ABSTRACT
On 17 September 1991, Marcel Masse, the minister of national defense, announced a new posture for Canada's forces stationed in Europe. In addition to the operational anomaly, there is the question of the "representational" aspect of the Canadian commitment to European security. Most Europeans, and many Canadians, regard only troops stationed in Europe as being irrevocably committed to European security, whatever Alliance plans may imply about reinforcement during crises. Internationally, the policy inconsistency that led to the termination of the Stationed Task Force proposal has alienated important allies, and undermined the influence of Canada in Europe. Politically, the problem has not been the size of the European commitment, which apparently gets little popular criticism in Canada, but rather the impending need to close bases in Canada, while retaining apparently expensive commitments to Europe. A capability would be based on a commonality of equipment between that held for training in Canada, and that prestocked in Europe.
