From punching about our weight during the two big Wars at the turn of the 20th Century to the 1980-1990's narrative of "peacekeepers" to today... We got it all wrong. A robust military with deployment capabilities and in-house expertise does not mean we are a colonial power or war-mongers. It means Canada takes its role as a global democratic leader seriously. And on top of it, we can call them when disaster strikes at home.
It is a typical story: everybody wants a better military, nobody wants to pay for it. Sigh.
For all of the tough talk from politicians about promoting Canada's sovereignty, that's not something other countries take seriously when they look at how multiple governments here have treated our national defense apparatus. Small wonder our NATO partners/allies don't really view us as a serious country. We're using CF-18's purchased in the 80's that are obselete and increasingly difficult to maintain, problem-plagued submarines that we purchased second-hand from the UK, just to name a few.
Unfortunately skimping on military spending has always been an easy choice for politicians of all stripes. Unspecified future needs are easy to ignore in the short term...kind of like pandemic preparedness. Others here have pointed out the ridiculous lead times on military procurement. Also, we've been told for years that taking action on climate change is too expensive. How do we feel about that now? And this is just the beginning. It's like not fixing your roof when it first needs repair. Sure, you can wait but it's never going to be cheaper to remedy than it is now.
Rescue capacity is something I don’t often think about. Apparently neither does our government at any level. Another item in the long list of things we are NOT doing to be ready for climate change
It's just so unCanadian to focus on anything to do with the military, we've always just let our "friends" to the south handle things. Now we're facing crippling shortages across the board, increasing pushback from said friends, and a looming embarrassment on our northern coastlines as other countries bully our sovereignty and land away.
You would have thought this might have been an issue in the recent election. In any other country it would have been THE issue.
From punching about our weight during the two big Wars at the turn of the 20th Century to the 1980-1990's narrative of "peacekeepers" to today... We got it all wrong. A robust military with deployment capabilities and in-house expertise does not mean we are a colonial power or war-mongers. It means Canada takes its role as a global democratic leader seriously. And on top of it, we can call them when disaster strikes at home.
It is a typical story: everybody wants a better military, nobody wants to pay for it. Sigh.
For all of the tough talk from politicians about promoting Canada's sovereignty, that's not something other countries take seriously when they look at how multiple governments here have treated our national defense apparatus. Small wonder our NATO partners/allies don't really view us as a serious country. We're using CF-18's purchased in the 80's that are obselete and increasingly difficult to maintain, problem-plagued submarines that we purchased second-hand from the UK, just to name a few.
Unfortunately skimping on military spending has always been an easy choice for politicians of all stripes. Unspecified future needs are easy to ignore in the short term...kind of like pandemic preparedness. Others here have pointed out the ridiculous lead times on military procurement. Also, we've been told for years that taking action on climate change is too expensive. How do we feel about that now? And this is just the beginning. It's like not fixing your roof when it first needs repair. Sure, you can wait but it's never going to be cheaper to remedy than it is now.
Thanks for the education Matt. Search and
Rescue capacity is something I don’t often think about. Apparently neither does our government at any level. Another item in the long list of things we are NOT doing to be ready for climate change
It's just so unCanadian to focus on anything to do with the military, we've always just let our "friends" to the south handle things. Now we're facing crippling shortages across the board, increasing pushback from said friends, and a looming embarrassment on our northern coastlines as other countries bully our sovereignty and land away.
You would have thought this might have been an issue in the recent election. In any other country it would have been THE issue.
excellent article, amongst the best I've read on your feed. and really well written!