Justin Trudeau hints at boosting Canada’s military spending

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[GK .Dundas]

Ah for fuck's sake.

I had sworn to myself I wouldn't vote for him, and now look how's massacred my promise.

Have any of his rivals said anything about

 

[RangerRay]

Melanie Joly said:
Canada is not a nuclear power, it is not a military power,” she told CTV Power Play host Evan Solomon. “We’re a middle-sized power and what we’re good at is convening and making sure that diplomacy is happening, and meanwhile convincing other countries to do more.

My problem with this statement isn’t the obvious one about the state of our military. It’s her statement about our diplomatic heft. She is thinking about a long time ago when we had diplomatic strength. That time has long since past due to the hollowing out of External Affairs/Foreign Affairs/Global Affairs by every PM since P. Trudeau.

She, and many other Canadians, is drinking her own bath water.

 

[GK .Dundas]

Umm how do I undo this? Fumble fingered today .I

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Canada will not be dramatically increasing Military spending. Inflation is going to cripple this Government's spending power over the next two years and the focus of which ever Government is in power will be dealing with that. Most likely through rate hikes and austerity not seen since the 70s/80s

Remember when they said inflation was "transitory"

Mortgage Rundown: The Bank of Canada may have made its gravest policy error since inflation targeting began

Canada is now dealing with not only one pandemic, but two. COVID-19 and inflation, the latter being a virus that spreads just as fast

www.theglobeandmail.com

I am hoping to get all of money out of this Government's hands ASAP, including all of my pension money. The payout cannot come soon enough

 

[KevinB]

It seems to me that the invasion of Ukraine has made Canadians increasingly aware of the importance of having a strong and capable military. Hopefully our politicians will stop dithering.

That occurred before before on 9-11...
The attention span of the Canadian voter for the Military is like a gnat.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

That occurred before before on 9-11...
The attention span of the Canadian voter for the Military is like a gnat.

Unfortunately the dinner bill for past actions is due and there isn't any money left for home insurance

 

[TacticalTea]

Canada will not be dramatically increasing Military spending. Inflation is going to cripple this Government's spending power over the next two years and the focus of which ever Government is in power will be dealing with that. Most likely through rate hikes and austerity not seen since the 70s/80s

Remember when they said inflation was "transitory"

Mortgage Rundown: The Bank of Canada may have made its gravest policy error since inflation targeting began

Canada is now dealing with not only one pandemic, but two. COVID-19 and inflation, the latter being a virus that spreads just as fast

www.theglobeandmail.com

I am hoping to get all of money out of this Government's hands ASAP, including all of my pension money. The payout cannot come soon enough

I fear you are right.

We're in the middle of a long, multifaceted economic crisis.

Governments will have to cut taxes and/or expenses to preserve their taxpayer's purchasing power and not crowd out investments that would restart the economy.

Or, accept that we live in a new, dangerous, climate-catastrophe-bound and de-globalized world, and that the consumerism we've sustained for decades is a thing of the past.

 

[YZT580]

It seems to me that the invasion of Ukraine has made Canadians increasingly aware of the importance of having a strong and capable military. Hopefully our politicians will stop dithering.

It has also made people aware of just how vacuous the words of our PM and his coterie are. Just hope they remember for more than 1 week after this particular war ends

 

[Old Sweat]

After watching our ministers address the issue, I can only think of the old saw that talk is cheap and military rebuilding is not, and they will opt for the cheapest solution.

 

[mariomike]

I look at the Ontario Government's recent changes to support Reservists and can already see HR departments trying to find loopholes.

Employees who are reservists and who are deployed to an international operation or to an operation within Canada that is or will be providing assistance in dealing with an emergency or its aftermath (including search and rescue operations, recovery from national disasters such as flood relief, military aid following ice storms, and aircraft crash recovery) are entitled under the ESA to unpaid leave for the time necessary to engage in that operation.

Unfortunately, nothing about leave - paid or unpaid - for training,

 

[TacticalTea]

My problem with this statement isn’t the obvious one about the state of our military. It’s her statement about our diplomatic heft. She is thinking about a long time ago when we had diplomatic strength. That time has long since past due to the hollowing out of External Affairs/Foreign Affairs/Global Affairs by every PM since P. Trudeau.

She, and many other Canadians, is drinking her own bath water.

It seems appropriate to express here my opinion on the purpose of Canada's military, to call back the discussion we were having a few pages back ITT.

Yes, diplomacy. Of course that's how we like to envision Canada's role in the world.

But diplomacy is a multi-lateral affair. Would the sanctions against Russia have any effect at all had they been enacted solely by Canada? Or even only by CAN/US? Obviously not.

We want to project ideals of peace, justice, and democracy in the greatest respect of the most fundamental rules of international law; sovereignty, human rights, fair trade. But we can't do it alone.

We need like-minded partners. The NATO and EU member-states, of course, but it's more wide-ranging than that. Mexico. Japan. Australia. Even India, despite all its troubles, it is still a democracy and a respectable actor in the international community.

If we sit back and let all those partners fall to tyranny, however, who are we even going to engage with diplomatically? If European democracies fall, one by one, what sort of world will we find ourselves living surviving in?

Thus, in the absence of real military threats to Canada itself, I think the primary purpose of the CAF is to preserve and support the liberal, rules-based world order that we helped usher into existence just at the midway point of our history as a country.

We can't sit by as the world's democracies are assaulted, lest we end up isolated and weakened. We ought to be able to deploy ourselves beyond our own borders, to enable a positive contribution to a coalition effort without dragging down our partners. America's protection should be empowering, not debilitating.

If we don't have the air and sealift to cross the oceans that safeguard our homeland, the air defenses to shield our army, the supply lines to feed it, and the air support to enable its advance... I don't see how we can actually help our friends half a world away. It is not sufficient to concern ourselves strictly with issues of domestic importance, such as Arctic sovereignty and the oft-brandished ''longest coastline, along three oceans''.

In the words of the late great Colonel Sanders Teddy Roosevelt, ''Speak softly and carry a big stick''. Otherwise, our words will be nothing but pure wind, to borrow from Orwell.



Sidenote: to address the idea that Canada punches above its weight... yeah we should probably stop trying to do that. We're spread so thin we can't effectively take in and train people.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Here lies our current problem with the PRes: Gotta pay the bills somehow.

We offer very little in the way of protection or cushion for folks when we ask them to serve their country on a part time basis. A lot of the people we recruit as reservists are working full time or are students pursuing a degree so they can be employed full time.

I look at the Ontario Government's recent changes to support Reservists and can already see HR departments trying to find loopholes. If we are going to have a Nordic socialist ideal of a "Home Guard" we need to ensure we provide the same sort of safe guards.

Years ago I had some interactions with upset employers. They were very much pro-reservist and tried to support not only hiring reservists but giving them time off for training.
Problem was maturity and human nature. Troops were calling their work on a Wednesday or Thursday saying they needed the weekend off for training, or last minute tasks/summer training. They were rightly upset about their employees "being ordered to train last minute".

The US system works because reservists are ordered to deploy or attend training. From what I can tell it's known in advance. In Canada everything reservists do is voluntary.

If we're going to protect reservists with job protection then it's only fair we figure out how to make said training mandatory and not when they feel like it e.g. providing a yearly training schedule (because it's not always the troops fault but the units).

 

[MilEME09]

Years ago I had some interactions with upset employers. They were very much pro-reservist and tried to support not only hiring reservists but giving them time off for training.
Problem was maturity and human nature. Troops were calling their work on a Wednesday or Thursday saying they needed the weekend off for training, or last minute tasks/summer training. They were rightly upset about their employees "being ordered to train last minute".

The US system works because reservists are ordered to deploy or attend training. From what I can tell it's known in advance. In Canada everything reservists do is voluntary.

If we're going to protect reservists with job protection then it's only fair we figure out how to make said training mandatory and not when they feel like it e.g. providing a yearly training schedule (because it's not always the troops fault but the units).

In some cases it's the troops not being open, if I need time off I have it booked in advance. Anything last minute I engage my employer to see if they cab afford to give me the time off.

Though sometimes the army messes up, I once had Borden fail to let me unit know my course dates changes to a week earlier, then call my unit asking where I am day 1 of course. To say the least I had to pick between my civi job and the army because my boss was none to happy about the idea of letting me go a week early.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Re the thread title, he couldn't boost a golf cart, let alone a military budget.

 

[TacticalTea]

Cartoonist sums up my point with a picture.

 

[FJAG]

My problem with this statement isn’t the obvious one about the state of our military. It’s her statement about our diplomatic heft. She is thinking about a long time ago when we had diplomatic strength. That time has long since past due to the hollowing out of External Affairs/Foreign Affairs/Global Affairs by every PM since P. Trudeau.

She, and many other Canadians, is drinking her own bath water.

You would have thought that the 2020 election for two UN Security Council seats for Europe and other would have made the point for her. Three countries ran for two seats: Norway, Ireland, Canada. Guess who didn't get in.

Yup. Our diplomatic heft is mighty. (Place sarcasm emoji here)

 

[Remius]

You would have thought that the 2020 election for two UN Security Council seats for Europe and other would have made the point for her. Three countries ran for two seats: Norway, Ireland, Canada. Guess who didn't get in.

Yup. Our diplomatic heft is mighty. (Place sarcasm emoji here)

But they sure know how to troll lol. That UN ambassador of ours sure knows how to lol.

 

[ArmyRick]

I would like FN # 0L0608, which I was issued in Cornwallis in 1983. It shot straight.

It shot straight? Or the guys working the butts wanted to get the day done so bad they pencil poked your 5 round grouping dead center?

 

[MilEME09]

It shot straight? Or the guys working the butts wanted to get the day done so bad they pencil poked your 5 round grouping dead center?

First round was on target, that's how they knew where to poke

 

[mariomike]

I know several employers, some of them ex-military, who refuse to hire reservists because they always want time off to go do military stuff and leave behind extra work for everyone else.

I agree with FJAG,

For me, the big factor, as I alluded to above, is to absolutely maximize the training effort during the reservists school years when there are no competing family and employer concerns. Once trained, the only real necessity is to do a form of refresher training for the bulk of the unit.

When they graduate high school / college, something like this, perhaps,

Military Service

Policy Statement The City of Toronto supports employees who want to participate in the military reserve force and allows them to take a leave of absence to fulfill their reserve duties. Application All employees listed below are eligible for Military Service leave. Non-union employees CUPE local...

www.toronto.ca