You might recall the running joke, a few years ago. It was said that the West Edmonton Mall had more submarines than the Royal Canadian Navy. And yes, they were real, honest-to-goodness submarines, deep sea-tested in fact..Whether or not that was true, it often got a good laugh..Canada tried to change that image, acquiring four British-made, diesel-electric submarines (Upholder/Victoria-class/ Type 2400) in 1999 — submarines nobody else wanted. Pakistan and Portugal didn’t want them. Even Chile didn’t want them..According to a report in Frontier India, the British charged the Canadians $750 million for them. But it would cost billions more, even though they spent more time in dry dock than in the water. Over two disastrous decades — it was, an epic made-in-Canada misadventure — Ottawa was then forced to address numerous problems, including fires and defective welds. There were several accidents during military operations: In 2004, one of these ageing submarines caught fire on its maiden transatlantic voyage, resulting in one fatality and multiple injuries among the crew. It was not back in service until 2015..In 2017, these submarines averaged approximately 20 days at sea, the report said. Since then the situation has improved, thanks to a funding endeavour of $1.9 billion, and these four submarines spent 529 days at sea. But no underwater operations were conducted in 2019 or 2020, according to the Department of Defence..In July 2021, the Canadian government also initiated a “Canadian Patrol Submarine Project” to analyze the available choices and determine their specific needs thoroughly, the report said. And this week, the Ottawa Citizen reported that the Royal Canadian Navy has shown an interest in purchasing 12 brand-new submarines at the cost of at least $60 billion. But the implementation phase could boost that price-tag up to $100 billion. The navy is urging the government to include the procurement of submarines in its ongoing defence policy review..The Citizen reported that at a defence conference in Ottawa last month, the Chief of the Defense Staff, General Wayne Eyre, stated that he would defend submarines on behalf of the navy: He said the submarines are one of Canada’s most important strategic assets to provide surveillance in Canadian and international waterways..Ideally, they would also be capable of navigating under the ice and defending Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic region..The review comes at a time when China is investing heavily in its submarine capabilities and Russian submarines, which are becoming increasingly effective, are conducting patrols in the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean..The fear, of course — according to insiders — is that Justin Trudeau's Liberal government, facing increasingly precarious financial pressures due to years of over-spending, will sweep the issue aside..Sadly, they may be right. In humiliating fashion, Trudeau and Global Affairs Canada were forced to play down a military pact involving three of our closest allies — the US, Britain and Australia — which left Canada out in the cold. Known as AUKUS, the deal formalized plans to help Australia develop a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines in response to growing concerns about China's actions in the Indo-Pacific. U.S. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australian leader Anthony Albanese met at a naval base in San Diego last month to confirm the trilateral agreement..“You know, when our countries first announced AUKUS 18 months ago, I'm not at all sure that anyone would have believed that — how much progress we'd be able to make together and how quickly we'd accomplish it,” President Biden said at the event, yet another slap in the face for Ottawa. “Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, China’s growing assertiveness, the destabilizing behavior of Iran and North Korea all threaten to create a world defined by danger, disorder and division,” added Prime Minister Sunak. “Faced with this new reality, it is more important than ever that we strengthen the resilience of our own countries.”.It is this new reality that Canada has so far completely ignored, something its allies have obviously noticed. The fact Canada didn’t even know about the looming AUKUS deal, was further evidence that its allies believe Ottawa is not serious about challenging Chinese ambitions. Nor are they aligned, militarily or politically..Meanwhile in the US, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin described in a defence strategy released earlier this month "an increasingly aggressive China" as a "generational challenge" and a top military priority, CTV News reported..Former Canadian ambassador to China David Mulroney would credit Australia with having initiated AUKUS after serious consideration about its future as a middle power in a world — and region — that China is seeking to dominate. This reflects not only Australia's more realistic and innovative approach to diplomacy, Mulroney said, it is also the product of Canberra's willingness to invest the necessary resources in making such a partnership become reality..“The AUKUS agreement … represents the biggest single investment in Australia’s defence capability in all of our history, strengthening Australia’s national security and stability in our region,” Prime Minister Albanese said..He added that the record investment would be a huge economic boost, resulting in new skills, jobs and infrastructure for Australia. According to The Economist, the tectonic geopolitical shift ranks with Nixon going to China in 1972 and the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989..To say that Canada missed the boat, economically and otherwise, would be an understatement. But that’s par for the course, for the Trudeau Liberals..While the world reacts to naked aggression, our leader is more worried about an imaginary green future.
