Manageable Mandate or Mission Creep? The Canadian Armed Forces Assistance to Law Enforcement Agencies

Authors

  • David Sopotyk University of Manitoba

Abstract

This paper examines the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) assistance to law enforcement agencies (LEA) and seeks to answer the question if CAF involvement is permitted? More precisely, is this action legal or does it represent mission creep by the CAF that should be of concern to Canada’s democracy? An analysis of CAF support to LEA via the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) is used as the case most likely to elicit legal difficulties.  This analysis finds that even given NORAD’s assistance to LEA (chosen as the most likely scenario of potential mission creep for the CAF given that Canadian military are operating in the United States with US LEA), the activities were within the bounds of the National Defence Act and given approval by the Canadian national command authority (the Prime Minister). Ultimately, this paper concludes that the CAF’s assistance to LEA is not mission creep so long as the authorities and processes in place are respected.

Key words: Canadian Armed Forces, Mission Creep, NORAD, Law Enforcement

Author Biography

  • David Sopotyk, University of Manitoba

    David Sopotyk is a Master of Arts graduate at the University of Manitoba in the Department of Political Studies. His research interests include civil-military relations, Canadian foreign and defence policy, and Canadian-US relations.

    Awarded third place in the Journal of Military and Strategic Studies 2025 National Award of Excellence.

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Published

2026-03-16

Issue

Vol. 24 No. 3 (2025): Journal of Military & Strategic Studies

Section

JMSS Awards of Excellence