The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge Should Canada Include Nuclear Weapons In Its Defence Strategy?
Feb 2, 2026
Janice Stein, professor and former director at the Munk School, offers expert analysis on international security and foreign policy. She discusses whether Canada should consider nuclear arms and why they may be unusable. She compares deterrence cases like Ukraine and India–Pakistan. She urges prioritizing anti-missile defenses, icebreakers, and conventional forces over nuclear arsenals.
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Nuclear Weapons Are Practically Unusable
- Nuclear weapons are effectively unusable because leaders fear unpredictable escalation and cannot control where escalation ends.
- Janice Stein argues this makes them poor practical defense tools for Canada.
Second-Strike Undermines Deterrence Simplicity
- Second-strike capability undercuts simple deterrence because both India and Pakistan retained forces yet still exchanged strikes.
- Stein says this shows nuclear arsenals don't reliably prevent conventional conflict escalation.
Nuclear Status Doesn't Guarantee Immunity
- Israel's undeclared nuclear status did not stop Iran's missile and drone attacks, showing nuclear possession isn't a guaranteed shield.
- Stein uses this and Ukraine to question the protective value of nuclear arms.