"However, I think, first of all, that what's happening in Sierra Leone is going to have the great influence on those governments who will be asked to provide forces to the Congo. Second, of course, the Security Council has no professional military advice organized in any way." -- Alex Morrison
William Alexander (Alex) Morrison, MSC, CD (born 1941) is a former Lieutenant Colonel of the Canadian Forces.
Born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, he is a graduate of Xavier Junior College. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1968 from Mount Allison University. He joined the Canadian Forces in 1959 and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1990. While in the CF, he completed the year-long course at the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College (1970) andreceived a Master of Arts in war studies degree from Royal Military College of Canada, student #G0053 in 1980. From 1980 to 1982, he was an instructor at the Royal Military College of Canada where he taught an undergraduate course in Canadian Military History. He coached the RMC Debating Team from 1978 to 1982.
From 1983 to 1989, he was the military advisor to the Canadian permanent representative to the UN. He was vice-chairman of UN Peacekeeping Committee. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in 1989.
From 1989 to 1997, he was the executive director of the Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies. In 1994, he became the founding president of the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre.
He is the author of The Voice of Defence; The History of the Conference of Defence Associations (1982) and The Breed of Manly Men: the History of the Cape Breton Highlanders (1994).
He was the 2002 recipient of the Pearson Medal of Peace for his work in peacekeeping serving in the military of Canada for over thirty years.
He has been the Willis S. McLeese Chair in Canadian Debating at the Canadian Student Debating Federation (CSDF) and at Upper Canada College since 2007. He also serves as the Executive Director of the CSDF. English | McLeese Chair
"All of us who are convinced that our military needs all the support the government and public will provide are pleased that he will have his chance to do just that.""As Brian Urquhart has said quite correctly, I don't think that individual countries in the international community can stand aside and let all of these slaughters continue without doing anything.""I also believe that member states of the United Nations should live up their obligations to pay their dues.""I do believe that the United Nations needs to have more exacting, more enhanced professional standards for the military peacekeepers that are deployed.""I think there has to be greater heed paid by the Security Council members to military advice.""I think they do have to get it right in Sierra Leone. There has to be something in there now to establish confidence, to stabilize the situation, and then to move to some sort of political negotiations.""I would hate to see operations in the Congo held hostage to Sierra Leone but I really think that's the way it's got to be. At one point we've got to decide to get it right and we've got to be professional.""The Halifax area has long played a major role in Canada's military operations, being the port of departure for convoys, naval task forces and army units over the past 100 years or so.""We can no longer stand for the Security Council passing resolutions and then in effect heaving alongside and taking a vacation. We cannot leave it to the secretary general to go cap in hand.""We know darned well that in Bosnia, certain governments and the secretary had said tens of thousands are needed in Srebrenica and those people were never provided.""You must first clearly see a thing in your mind before you can do it."
4237 Dr. Adrian Preston & Peter Dennis (Edited) "Swords and Covenants" Rowman And Littlefield, London. Croom Helm. 1976.
H16511 Dr. Richard Arthur Preston "Canada's RMC - A History of Royal Military College" Second Edition 1982
H1877 R. Guy C. Smith (editor) "As You Were! Ex-Cadets Remember". In 2 Volumes. Volume I: 1876-1918. Volume II: 1919-1984. RMC. Kingston, Ontario. The R.M.C. Club of Canada. 1984