Author Andrew Iarocci says YES. Author J.L. Granatstein says NO. Iarocci is an assistant professor of history at Western University in London, Ont., and is the author of Shoestring Soldiers: The First Canadian Division, 1914-15. His research interests include military transportation and procurement. Granatstein has written dozens of books, including Who Killed Canadian Military History? and Canada’s Army: Waging War and Keeping the Peace. He is a former director and CEO of the Canadian War Museum.   J.L. GRANATSTEIN NO Liberating the Netherlands was the most important political achievement of the Canadian Army in the Second World War, but it was not the most important military accomplishment. Armies exist to fight and win wars, to defeat the enemy. The Canadians lib...

Did the government make the right decision in 1941?   Author Carl Vincent of Stittsville, Ont., says NO. Author J.L. Granatstein of Toronto says YES.   Vincent is the author of a number of articles and books, including No Reason Why—the Canadian Hong Kong Tragedy—an examination. From 1962 to 1995 he was an archivist at Public Archives of Canada/National Archives of Canada. Granatstein has written dozens of books, including Who Killed Canadian Military History? and Canada’s Army: Waging War and Keeping the Peace. He is a former director and CEO of the Canadian War Museum. CARL VINCENT NO The subject of the dispatch of Canadian troops to Hong Kong during the Second World War is one that has sporadically captured the attention of writers and historians. In respo...

Military medals are bought and sold regularly in Canada and elsewhere and there are no rules against it. Is this practice wrong?   Author John Boileau of Halifax says NO. Author Glenn Wright of Ottawa says YES.   Boileau, a retired army colonel, has authored several books and numerous newspaper and magazine articles on Canadian military history. He is also a frequent radio and TV commentator on military issues. Wright is retired from the federal government where he worked as an archivist and historian with Library and Archives Canada, and the RCMP. He has also authored books on Canada’s wartime service. JOHN BOILEAU NO Many people contend that selling military medals should be illegal. Unfortunately, some who believe this may not thoroughly understand the subject...

The United States dropped two atomic bombs—nicknamed Fat Man and Little Boy—on Japan in August 1945, resulting in the deaths and injury of more than 200,000 people. Was that action justified to bring the war to an end?   Policy analyst John Siebert of Waterloo, Ont., says NO. Author Hugh A. Halliday of Ottawa says YES. Siebert is executive director of Project Ploughshares (www.ploughshares.ca), based in Waterloo, Ont., which conducts policy research on defence and foreign policy. He is also a former diplomat who was posted to the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Halliday, a former member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, community college teacher and a curator at the Canadian War Museum, has written, co-authored or compiled numerous articles and books on general Canadian history...

The Battle of the Somme was one of the most horrific battles of the First World War. Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost between July and November 1916. Was it worth it?   Author Jonathan Vance says NO. Author Andrew Iarocci says YES. Vance is a professor of history at Western University in London, Ont. He is the author of several articles and books, including Death So Noble: Memory, Meaning and the First World War and Maple Leaf Empire: Canada, Britain and Two World Wars. Iarocci is an assistant professor of history at Western University and author of Shoestring Soldiers: The First Canadian Division, 1914-15 and co-editor of Vimy Ridge: A Canadian Reassessment. His current research interests include military transportation and procurement. JONATHAN VANCE NO While Fie...