Justin Trudeau hints at boosting Canada’s military spending

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[Weinie]

Weinie, G2G,

Not sure why they’d go to length for an internal advertised staffing process (and waste many people’s time) when it is entirely possible and acceptable to go the internal unadvertised route?

Yeah, one might think that.........................................................................oh..............wait a minute.

 

[GK .Dundas]

Ahhhhh, CBSA….

(It wasn’t ‘changed’ as recently as 6 years, 2 months and 12 days ago… )

I take it,you weren't related to anyone either ?

 

[Good2Golf]

I take it,you weren't related to anyone either ?

Not in the least…clearly unsuitable material it would appear.

 

[GK .Dundas]

Not in the least…clearly unsuitable material it would appear.

So should we take that as an insult or a compliment ?...

 

[Good2Golf]

Knowing what I know now, definitely a complement!

 

[GK .Dundas]

Knowing what I know now, definitely a complement!

Oh yeah !

 

[Czech_pivo]

Anyone willing to give a WAG on what Thursday's budget may contain in terms of actual net new spending or direction? Will it all be smoke and mirrors or will it contain actual achievable items?

 

[Weinie]

Anyone willing to give a WAG on what Thursday's budget may contain in terms of actual net new spending or direction? Will it all be smoke and mirrors or will it contain actual achievable items?

I’m betting NORAD folks will be happy, as the gov’t re/re/re-confirms their commitment to continental defence. Most others will be “meh”

 

[Remius]

Anyone willing to give a WAG on what Thursday's budget may contain in terms of actual net new spending or direction? Will it all be smoke and mirrors or will it contain actual achievable items?

I want to be optimistic. But I guess we’ll see.

I think we’ll see some commitments to NORAD. Maybe even some Arctic stuff. And possibly an effort to fix the spending we currently have. I’d like to see as many items we can fast track pushed forward. Small arms, STANO etc.

 

[WLSC]

I want to be optimistic. But I guess we’ll see.

I think we’ll see some commitments to NORAD. Maybe even some Arctic stuff. And possibly an effort to fix the spending we currently have. I’d like to see as many items we can fast track pushed forward. Small arms, STANO etc.

I don’t think we are currently in a position to receive massive investment other than that but I would add money for the reconstitution/personnel.

 

[Good2Golf]

A couple of thoughts:

1. Defence funding isn’t just for the next fiscal year, it can (should) be for a methodical, demonstrable (ie. not virtue-signaling bagflegarb) increase in operational AND organizational capability/capacity over a significant period of time - at least 10-15 years, if not 20+ (Not just a ‘say words to get us to/past the next election’ effort).
2. It should be explicitly included in budgetary legislation that the Defence portion is non-partisan in nature and endorsed by all parties, not just a plurality, and protected from retraction in furniture years, except in a proportional degree that the whole of a budget may be contracted in future due to overall fiscal pressures.

That said, I think any plus up to Defence will have lots of loopholes in the wording, and when things are different in Ukraine, we’ll see commitments kicked further down the road, Chrystia Freeland’s ties to Ukraine notwithstanding.

 

[FSTO]

I'm not confident anything will change.
We are not a serious country.

 

[PPCLI Guy]

They will commit to making a committent to announce an announcement to plan to make a plan....which they will then surreptitiously defund. At least the Conservatives issued a plan before they surreptitiousy defunded it....

 

[Retired AF Guy]

I want to be optimistic. But I guess we’ll see.

I think we’ll see some commitments to NORAD. Maybe even some Arctic stuff. And possibly an effort to fix the spending we currently have. I’d like to see as many items we can fast track pushed forward. Small arms, STANO etc.

NORAD for sure. The Americans have been pushing Canada to make a commitment and all they have been getting is silence.

 

[Retired AF Guy]

More details from Jean Charest on what he would do if elected PM:

Jean Charest says Canada 'unprepared' for conflict, pitches major investments in defence

Former Quebec premier turned Conservative leadership candidate promises billions in new military spending

John Paul Tasker · CBC News · Posted: Apr 04, 2022 12:59 PM ET | Last Updated: April 4

Conservative leadership candidate Jean Charest said Monday a government led by him would spend much more money on Canada's armed forces and promised cash to buy new equipment and establish two new military bases in the Arctic.

Charest — who made the announcement while touring Nova Scotia, a province that is home to a large number of military personnel and veterans — said Canada has been underfunding the armed forces for too long and Russia's invasion of Ukraine has underscored just how "unprepared" the country really is.
"[Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau's indifference and inaction in support of the Canadian Armed Forces has made it harder to retain qualified personnel, harder to recruit, tougher to train, and impossible for Canada to meet its obligations to its allies globally. Our allies have taken notice and are choosing to leave us out of important security arrangements," Charest said, referring to the AUKUS military pact signed by Australia, the U.S. and the United Kingdom last year.

To get Canada back in the mix, Charest said he'd boost military spending to 2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) as "quickly as it can be responsibly done." GDP is a metric used to measure the size of a country's entire economy.

Under the current Liberal government, military spending was about 1.36 per cent of GDP in 2021, according to NATO figures — well below what the country spent during the Cold War.

In the 1960s, Canada's military spending amounted to roughly 4 per cent of GDP. It was around 2 per cent in the 1980s before it dropped dramatically during a period of austerity and budget cuts in the 1990s.

All NATO members, including Canada, have committed to spending 2 per cent of national GDP on the military. But Canada, like some other countries, has done little to actually hit that target.

Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland, left, and Minister of National Defence Anita Anand arrive at a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday, March 3, 2022. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
With the war in Ukraine raging, Defence Minister Anita Anand signalled recently Canada will commit more money to the military in this week's federal budget. To hit the NATO target, Canada's defence budget would have to increase from the planned $32 billion spending target to roughly $58 billion.

Charest said that, if he becomes prime minister, he'd direct some of the promised new spending to establishing two new military bases in the Arctic — including a deepwater port — and purchase two armed icebreakers to shore up Canada's presence in the region. He said he'd work with the U.S. to modernize NORAD defensive and early warning systems and "explore" the possibility of upgrading the submarine fleet to do a better job of defending all three of Canada's coasts.

The Liberal government restarted the fighter jet procurement process when it first assumed office in 2015, something Charest said was "irresponsible."

While Trudeau initially ran for office opposed to buying Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter planes, the government now appears poised to sign a deal for those aircraft, which are already used by the U.S. and other NATO allies.

Charest said the seven-year-long process to buy these jets has been too slow. He said a government led by him would "streamline bureaucratic processes" and "speed up competitions" to accelerate future purchases and avoid costly delays.

In addition to ongoing procurement issues, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has also struggled to recruit new members in recent years.

There's money on the books to bring the fighting force up to 71,500 regular members and 30,000 reservists but the CAF is well off that mark. At last count, there were only about 65,000 regular force members.

Charest said he'd strive to make the CAF a more welcoming work environment by tackling the sexual misconduct that has plagued the military in recent years, dragging down efforts to recruit more women.

The former Quebec premier said Trudeau has overseen a "dysfunctional and unacceptable deterioration" in the CAF and the military has become a place where "female, minority and LGBTQ+ have experienced systemic and unfair obstacles while participating in what should be safe and merit-based environments."

He said he'd also try to woo back recently retired CAF members with unspecified incentives and force Canada's colleges and universities to allow military recruiters to set up recruitment centres on their campuses.

As for Canada's veterans, Charest promised a return to the pre-2006 Pension Act benefits that were available to disabled and injured veterans. The rollout of a new benefits and pensions regime has been an ongoing source of consternation for former CAF members injured on duty.

He also promised new benefits for veterans with a minimum of five years regular force service or reservists who were in the CAF for at least seven years. He said those benefits could include access to low-cost mortgages, loans for veterans who want to start or expand a business and education grants for those who want to study in another field.

Link

 

[Navy_Pete]

I’m betting NORAD folks will be happy, as the gov’t re/re/re-confirms their commitment to continental defence. Most others will be “meh”

Not new funding, but this year for a change we've had a bunch of NP funding released at the very start of the FY pretty much across the board. The last little while it's been hit or miss, and in some cases it was the summer before we got even a portion of the funds. I think right now the projects I'm running with had more funding 1 April then I had last fall, unless I went hat in hand to beg for it.

Managing NP funding for system support can be a high LOE task, so that was a nice change.

 

[MarkOttawa]

More details from Jean Charest on what he would do if elected PM:



Link

And once again the stupid two armed icebreakers that CPC promised in 2005 campaign. Many Conservatives are just as ignorant about defence/Coast Guard as Liberals, NDP. Sigh. All spin.

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Remius]

And once again the stupid two armed icebreakers that CPC promised in 2005 campaign. Many Conservatives are just as ignorant about defence/Coast Guard as Liberals, NDP. Sigh. All spin.

Mark
Ottawa

He’s not getting the leadership. I’ll pay attention to Charest when he’s the leader. And on that he would be my current choice but I know that isn’t happening.

 

[dapaterson]

Charest has promised to remove political interference from procurement, and also to ensure Canadian industry in supported through the CSPS, so it's a wash.

 

[KevinB]

Charest has promised to remove political interference from procurement, and also to ensure Canadian industry in supported through the CSPS, so it's a wash.

He would remove interference from picking Canadian companies (or Canadian subsidiaries of multinational companies).