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OTTAWA — The former commander of the country’s special forces says no matter how many “sunny ways” there are in Canada, the reality of the world outside is that people continue to kill people and that is something the nation needs to understand.

The blunt talk by retired lieutenant-general Mike Day comes as the Trudeau government mulls options for its much-anticipated defence policy review, which will set the future course for the military.

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Day referred to “sunny ways,” the unofficial catchphrase of the Liberal campaign, at the end of cautionary speech to a Mackenzie Institute conference on future conflicts.

He said those clashes will be messy, ill-defined and driven by climate change and world demographic shifts. They will not be clear, or easy, and will likely require “decades of engagement.”

“I’m a cynic when it comes to human nature and the fact is, no matter how many sunny ways we have, my experience in deploying around the world is people will want to continue to kill other people and we need to be ready for that.”