NORAD modernization will require the Canadian government to reluctantly revisit the old debate over ballistic missile defence — a politically toxic issue that successive federal governments have tried to shelve, even if it may be seen in a different light in the 2020s, given advances in missile technology made by Russia and China in recent years. An even tougher sticking point will be the cost of such modernization — something Canadians coming out of a pandemic may be reluctant to contemplate.