Episode 68: Bringing Friends Together - The History of US-Canada Military Relations

Global in the Granite State

It has long been said that the United States has benefited from its geography, when it comes to national security. This is attributed to vast oceans to the east and west, along with friendly neighbors to the north and south. The same can be said for Canada, with Santa being a pretty friendly neighbor to the north, one would assume. Do to this shared advantage, which might be less true today, Canada and the United States have long worked together to secure "Fortress North America". From the defensive structures of NORAD and NATO, to the continued force projection taking on some of the biggest challenges of the day, these two countries have collaborated in a number of military spaces.
While it would take too long to dive into all the shared challenges that these countries face on the global stage, we did take a special opportunity to speak with the Canadian Defense Attaché to the United States about several of the biggest issues of the day. Major General Michel-Henri St-Louis of the Canadian Armed Forces graciously gave his time to talk about NATO, NORAD, Ukraine, and the current state of Canada's military and integration with American forces. With a thirty-plus year military career, the Major General has held many high level commands across multiple theatres, as he has helped to ensure Canada upholds its international security obligations.
This episode tackles important questions, from what challenges do the armed forces face in terms of readiness, what support has the Canadian government provided to Ukraine, and how our adversaries actively work to undermine important foreign policy conversations here in the US and Canada. This fascinating and unique conversation provides access to top level military thinking, accessible for all.
Major-General Michel-Henri St-Louis is an infantry officer from le Royal 22e Régiment, currently serving as the Defence Attaché to the United States. Born in Managua, Nicaragua, he and his family moved to the south shore of Montreal in 1978 during the time of the Sandinista Revolution. Before assuming his current responsibilities at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC, MGen St-Louis was the Acting Commander of the Canadian Army. This followed his appointment as the Canadian Army’s Training Authority. Preceding this, he served as the Commander of Joint Task Force - IMPACT in the Middle East for more than a year (mid 2019 – mid 2020). Other previous commands and appointments include Deputy Commanding General for Operations of America’s First Corps (I Corps - US Army) at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (2017-2019), command of 5e Groupe-Brigade Mécanisé du Canada (2015-2017), as well as commander of the last Canadian Battle-Group in charge of combat operations in Panjwai, Kandahar (2010-2011).
Through his service he and his family have lived in Saint-Jean, Québec City, Oromocto, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Washington, D.C., Washington State and Kingston (Ontario). He has deployed on 6 different missions, to such places as Srebrenica (Bosnia), Rastevic (Croatia), Zgon (Bosnia), Kabul, Kandahar (Afghanistan) and the OP IMPACT Middle East area or operations (Kuwait-Iraq-Jordan-Lebanon).
He has attended the US PINNACLE and CAPSTONE Leadership Programs, followed seminars at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NDU) and the US Army War College. He is a graduate of the National War College (Washington, D.C., U.S.A.), the Canadian Forces College, le Collège Militaire Royal de Saint-Jean, the Royal Military College in Kingston, and the Canadian Army Command and Staff College. His three Masters degrees have focused on the study of war, defence and strategy. He served as chief of staff at the operational level in the 1st Canadian Air Division. In addition, he served three times at the strategic level with the Director General of Strategic Planning, within the Canadian Army Staff and with the Strategic Joint Staff.