I do however agree with the message of the article that the Government, and in particular Minister of Industry Tony Clement, needs to be proactive and release a new Long Term Space Plan for the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
And while the Citizen is correct that the last named Long Term Space Plan was released in 1993 it actually did have a successor in the Canadian Space Strategy which was approved on November 12, 2004 and subsequently released.
It is also ridiculous to simplify the strategy of the U.S space progam as just canceling the Constellation program, doing more science and building a better launch vehicle. The redefining of NASA's vision and in particular its human exploration program is in fact a very complicated ongoing process. While the President may have laid out his vision, the budget is not a done deal and there is a lot of back room maneuvering ongoing. Congress will certainly have its say and the final budget will look different than its current form. Billions have already spent on the Constellation program and jobs are at stake in several states where NASA centers are located.
For Canadians though the more pressing issue is how what will be Canada's response to the U.S. space program shift.
The diagram below shows the Canadian Space Agency strategic planning tree of 2002 and while a new Long Term Space Plan will have some changes, the main thrusts should be relatively similar.
