Hillier: cbc, open call for questions!

Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier answers your questions on the Canadian Forces
March 9, 2007 | CBC

CBC.ca invites your questions to Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defence staff for the Canadian Forces.

Before taking command of the Canadian Forces in February 2005, Gen. Hillier was in command of the NATO's stabilization force in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2000. In 2003, he was appointed Chief of Land Staff, commanding the Canadian army, and later commanded the NATO International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in 2004.

Recently, Hillier gave a speech at a meeting of the Conference of Defence Association Institute in Ottawa, in which he described the "negative legacy" of the defence spending cuts that began in 1994 and that left "deep wounds." He called the past 10 years in the Forces "a decade of darkness," but didn't name the Liberal government specifically.

Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre called Hillier's comments "highly political" and "inappropriate."

"I never thought he would become a prop for the Conservative party," Coderre said. Full story

In a later interview with CPAC, Hillier said he's "been called every name in the book." But, "I don't think I've ever been so insulted as to be called a prop for a political party," he said. Full story

Hillier has also faced questions about the mission in Afghanistan and whether other NATO members are pulling their weight. Gen. Hillier on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos

Gen. Hillier will reply to your questions by e-mail and we'll post them here Wednesday, March 14.

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