FIRST READING: Yes, Canada could have shot down the Chinese spy balloon

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The United States has faced no shortage of criticism for letting a Chinese spy balloon drift across 10 states before finally shooting it down off the coast of South Carolina.

The ignominy of the incident is arguably far worse for Canada. Despite the balloon passing over nearly 3,000 kilometres of B.C., Alberta and the Yukon, not only did defence officials refuse to destroy the balloon — but they didn’t even bother telling Canadians it was there.

“We do not in any way jeopardize the integrity of the operations which are being undertaken to protect national security, as well as the people who are engaged in those operations,” was how Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino explained the government’s official silence at a House of Commons committee hearing this week.