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Partly right. But also, military spending, even by the pro-military spending side, is kinda always pitched as optional. Think about it. We always talk about spending more to get respect in the world. Or gain US influence. Etc. Well, if I am waiting for three hours at Emerg, getting respect...

Unless it's in the Constitution, no such law will ever survive a change of government. Very easy for the next government to simply pass a bill overturning that requirement. There's no easy way around any of this. Gotta actually change public opinion.

Calling voters "aloof, fat and dumb" is not going to win support for more defence spending. Just saying. Also, a part of the problem here is that nobody wants to entertain tax increases to pay for all the things we want. So that makes it automatically a zero sum game between social programs...

We have a long history of signing up for things and not meeting them. This isn't the first commitment we've made that we've not lived up to. And we won't meet any of them as long as our politics determines which commitments are optional. Politically, there's no difference (to the average...

More than PMQs, I just wish the CAF built a lot more SQs. Even in non-Reg F areas. Simply providing that, means one less participant in the local housing market. Cheap SQ would be a great incentive to join the reserves. Especially given how difficult it is for a lot of students and young...

When all these conversations eventually devolve down to how somebody in a mud hut in Africa won't be able to charge their Tesla Model 3, I'd say the point is being lost and doesn't speak to the apparent wisdom that is being asserted. It's not just Asia using two and three wheelers. Heck the...

Those economics are exactly why EV two and three wheelers are taking off in Asia. This is a point I've made here a few times. And it's been roundly dismissed by a bunch of people who don't understand how critical two and three wheelers are in so many of these countries. Here's the Bloomberg...

Sincerely hope none of you guys were GOFOs. The failure of imagination here is, well, disappointing. I was expecting a bit more worldliness. Not a bunch of folks who think every African lives in a mud hut. It's like some of you think UNICEF or World Vision commercials are universal...

Well aware. When I was a kid in the 80s, we used to call my grandmother's neighbour in India, before my grandparents got a landline. In the late 90s getting a landline was still difficult. By the early 2000s, every one of our relatives had cellphones. It was a remarkable change to see...

A forum full of military guys who have presumably deployed and yet don't understand how creative people can get in the developing world or can't imagine somebody else deploying "Adapt and overcome". Disappointing. They charge where and when they can. There will be some dude selling charging...

Here's what legacy automakers should (and do) fear: https://electrek.co/2024/03/22/byds-new-ev-starting-under-10000-stoking-fear-rivals/ But you'll say, we'll never allow those in Canada or the US. Maybe. We'll see...

Just a reminder. Peter Zeihan also argued that Russia was going to steamroll Ukraine in days. And he said this after the 50 km convoy had developed. I was exposed to some of his stuff on post-grad at NPS. Best taken with a grain of salt. He loves to tell Americans what makes them feel...

They were also a company basing a business plan around a tie up with Chinese companies. Until recently (post-FIPA) that was not illogical.

Here is the CAF List of GOFOs: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/organizational-structure/general-officers-and-flag-officers.html Look at the job titles and then decide who should be lower ranked. Not as easy as you would think without substantially rethinking the...

The basic project approval course is free on DLN and takes maybe an hour to really click through. Half the ignorance here on our process could be solved by the one course. And when you do that course, you'll realize how low DND's threshold for spending without cabinet approval is. They don't...

I'll repeat what I said earlier. If you want to get it done, you get it done. You don't make excuses. Especially when you have a majority and can change legislation. What does it say about Harper that Trudeau supposedly ratchetted up standards to "impossible" and still got TMX built? This...

This is such a weird post. Are you suggesting the goverment in power is not responsible for getting things done? The complaint about Chinese influence is particularly weird given this: https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/canada-ratifies-investment-deal-with-china-despite-misgivings-1.2004295 You...

This is the only part that any Canadian politician (right or left) cares about: trade access to the US. Canadians only act when that is threatened. If Trump threatens to close the Northern border, we'll all be getting six figure retention cheques to boost defence spending immediately. And...

What influence did they have between 2011 and 2015 when the Conservatives had a majority in Parliament? And it's not like the Conservatives really cared about Opposition concerns over other controversial issues like the Long Form Census, Long gun registry, climate change, etc. So why exactly...

I get that this is the prevailing narrative. But if it was that easy, why didn't the last government build those pipelines to tidewater? Or why didn't industry do it when they had a friendly government in office? The fact that it never got past proposal stage under the Conservatives has me...