This paper examines the formal policy that continued to
identify the Canadian Forces as a war-fighting entity,
even though the CF tended to be deployed in situations
other than war for two generations up to the current CF
deployment in Afghanistan. This situation has caused a
confused relationship between the military, civilian leadership
and the population as a whole.
Two key factors contributed to this situation. First, there
was widespread ignorance about the role and operations
of the CF. Second, as a result of a doctrinal shift, for reasons
that are not readily apparent, the term civil-military
co-operation (CIMIC) had replaced civil-military relations
in the Canadian context. The paper makes several key
conclusions and offers solutions to change these factors.