There it was, in black and white, on the Western Standard website. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was unveiling an electioneering masterstroke — a plan to renew Canada’s defence system, committing to spend $8.1 billion over five years and $73 billion over 20 years in defence spending as part of Budget 2024. Of course, it had nothing to do with reality. The military will never see a nickle of that spending. It was all just smoke and mirrors, yet another pie-in-the-sky promise the Liberal party can and will kick down the road.Folks, it will never happen, it's all show and no go. Or as we say in the West, all hat and no cattle.The man who had let Canada's military fall into ruin, was suddenly the man to save it? And he expects us to drink that Kool-Aid? It reminded me of an old Ukrainian saying, that goes sort of like, "eedeh teh," which roughly means, "Yeah, go on, whatever."If you believe any of this bunk, Canada’s defence spending to GDP ratio is now expected to rise to 1.76% by 2029/30 — supposedly a major step towards reaching its NATO commitment of 2%. “Members of our Armed Forces serve our country with unwavering dedication,” said the peace-loving PM in a press release.“With today’s announcement, we’re strengthening the Canadian Armed Forces with transformative investments in equipment, capabilities and talent.”Well, well, how noble. The man who did nothing for the better part of two terms was now announcing his plan to fix his mistakes. Wonderful.The multi-year commitment was part of a new national defence policy paper — Our North, Strong and Free — that also includes acquisition of new airborne early warning aircraft (AWACs,) long-range army missiles and 'tactical' helicopters, either crewed or uncrewed.Folks, the reality is we have aging F-18s and no replacement for training aircraft or for its obsolete Griffon helicopters, or for the Snowbirds air team, who are still flying half-a-century-old Tutor jets.The first Block 4 F-35s won't land until 2026 and according to National Defence, there could be 'slippage,' or delays. Costly delays, of anywhere from $400 million to $700 million, Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux has warned..Meanwhile, the first of the Boeing P-8A surveillance planes are also scheduled for delivery in 2026. Canada plans to buy 14 of the planes with the option of buying another two if needed.The P-8As will replace the rapidly aging CP-140 Aurora fleet, purchased in the early 1980s. These new planes will also be used for search-and-rescue operations and maritime patrols and they will have anti-ship missiles, which is the good news.Oh and Trudeau also promised billions to build homes, for the housing crisis he created; billions in low-cost loans, grants and student loan forgiveness to expand child care; billions to improve quality of life for indigenous communities; and billions more for transportation infrastructure.Seeing a familiar pattern here? See a billion, spend a billion. Just more cash promises to fix Made-in-Ottawa disasters. And who knows where Canada will find all this money.Yet, there's only one small problem in the defence commitment and it involves trust. Ask any military person in this country, past or present, and none of them trust Trudeau. And neither should you.The fact remains, Canada's pledge to increase national military spending by $5.9 billion over the next five years will still fail to meet the NATO target.According to a report in Breaking Defence, the feds' report also does not offer a timeline for the country to meet the two percent GDP target but it argues a move to double military spending between 2016-2017 to 2026-2027 is “on track.”On track, to what? Currently, we are an embarrassment, a NATO pariah. In 2023, Canada spent 1.38% of GDP on defence, according to NATO, a lowly figure that ranks just ahead of Slovenia, Turkey, Spain and Belgium, the most meagre of alliance spenders, outside of tiny Luxembourg.Canada also says its spending taxpayers' dollars will mainly focus on partnerships relating to the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions, “two regions that are fundamental to safeguarding … security and prosperity.”A strange thing to say, since we are not members of AUKUS or the QUAD in Asia-Pacific — the latter, a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan and the US, and the former, the US, Australia and the UK.Both of those groups have shunned us, ignored us, want nothing to do with us — a monumental historical setback for Canadian foreign relations..Detailing national military priorities, Bill Blair, Canada’s defence minister, writes of the need to “confront the reality of climate change” in the High Arctic.Canada, he adds, has also witnessed “greater Russian activity” in the air domain and “a growing number of Chinese vessels and surveillance platforms” across the Arctic Ocean.The challenge — or threat — lies under the ocean surface, particularly under the ice where submarines with ballistic or cruise missiles could lurk.All true, of course, and until now, largely ignored by the Canadian government, regardless of their pledge to boost collaboration with the US to strengthen “collective security" within NORAD.Despite the ballyhoo that surrounded Canada's Madrid announcement in 2022, it's becoming clear that the modernization of North American air defence systems has a long way to go and a number of technical obstacles to overcome.For example, Over-The-Horizon (OTH) radar systems can locate targets beyond the range of conventional radar.But they also draw an enormous amount of energy. Defence scientists are still trying to figure out how to power the stations in remote northern locations in an environmentally responsible way.And while Canada's defences are currently out of date — I won't call it a shambles — 20 of the 27 EU member states have increased defence expenditure, with six increasing spending by more than 10%. Sweden (+30.1%), Luxembourg (+27.9%), Lithuania (+27.6%), Spain (+19.3%), Belgium (+14.8%) and Greece (+13.3%) recorded the highest increases.Also, the tiny Scandinavian country of Norway (a nation of just 5.457 million people) will double its military budget over the next 12 years by increasing spending by 600 billion NOK (US$56 billion), part of a “historic” new defence plan announced by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.The plan prioritizes heavy investment in new frigates and submarines to push back against Russian maritime influence, Breaking Defence reported.They see the threat from President Putin and they are taking action, not just empty words and promises. They have no choice, of course.“The Norwegian government proposes to spend a total of NOK1.6 trillion ($150 billion) on Norway’s defence over the next twelve years, until 2036,” Støre is quoted as saying in a Norwegian government statement. “By then, the defence budget will be almost twice as large as it is today, measured in real value.”Norway’s efforts to increase military capabilities across all domains comes on the heels of NATO’s two-week Nordic Response training exercise, held in March, a show of strength by allied nations to prepare for war against Russia and that comprised of 20,000 troops from 13 nations, including Canada.How did our troops fare? Well, according to a CBC report in 2023, Canadian soldiers deployed in Latvia as part of a NATO mission spent their own money on helmets and other equipment due to outdated supplies provided by the Canadian Armed Forces.Soldiers were forced to buy upgraded helmets with built-in hearing protection and headsets from online retailers white training abroad. They also had to acquire their own rain gear, tactical vests and ammunition in the same way, the CBC reported.Can you imagine any Western nation in the world, ignoring their troops in this manner?That's the reality, of Mr. Trudeau's military, not the greaseball promises he's made to garner votes in the next election.
There it was, in black and white, on the Western Standard website. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was unveiling an electioneering masterstroke — a plan to renew Canada’s defence system, committing to spend $8.1 billion over five years and $73 billion over 20 years in defence spending as part of Budget 2024. Of course, it had nothing to do with reality. The military will never see a nickle of that spending. It was all just smoke and mirrors, yet another pie-in-the-sky promise the Liberal party can and will kick down the road.Folks, it will never happen, it's all show and no go. Or as we say in the West, all hat and no cattle.The man who had let Canada's military fall into ruin, was suddenly the man to save it? And he expects us to drink that Kool-Aid? It reminded me of an old Ukrainian saying, that goes sort of like, "eedeh teh," which roughly means, "Yeah, go on, whatever."If you believe any of this bunk, Canada’s defence spending to GDP ratio is now expected to rise to 1.76% by 2029/30 — supposedly a major step towards reaching its NATO commitment of 2%. “Members of our Armed Forces serve our country with unwavering dedication,” said the peace-loving PM in a press release.“With today’s announcement, we’re strengthening the Canadian Armed Forces with transformative investments in equipment, capabilities and talent.”Well, well, how noble. The man who did nothing for the better part of two terms was now announcing his plan to fix his mistakes. Wonderful.The multi-year commitment was part of a new national defence policy paper — Our North, Strong and Free — that also includes acquisition of new airborne early warning aircraft (AWACs,) long-range army missiles and 'tactical' helicopters, either crewed or uncrewed.Folks, the reality is we have aging F-18s and no replacement for training aircraft or for its obsolete Griffon helicopters, or for the Snowbirds air team, who are still flying half-a-century-old Tutor jets.The first Block 4 F-35s won't land until 2026 and according to National Defence, there could be 'slippage,' or delays. Costly delays, of anywhere from $400 million to $700 million, Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux has warned..Meanwhile, the first of the Boeing P-8A surveillance planes are also scheduled for delivery in 2026. Canada plans to buy 14 of the planes with the option of buying another two if needed.The P-8As will replace the rapidly aging CP-140 Aurora fleet, purchased in the early 1980s. These new planes will also be used for search-and-rescue operations and maritime patrols and they will have anti-ship missiles, which is the good news.Oh and Trudeau also promised billions to build homes, for the housing crisis he created; billions in low-cost loans, grants and student loan forgiveness to expand child care; billions to improve quality of life for indigenous communities; and billions more for transportation infrastructure.Seeing a familiar pattern here? See a billion, spend a billion. Just more cash promises to fix Made-in-Ottawa disasters. And who knows where Canada will find all this money.Yet, there's only one small problem in the defence commitment and it involves trust. Ask any military person in this country, past or present, and none of them trust Trudeau. And neither should you.The fact remains, Canada's pledge to increase national military spending by $5.9 billion over the next five years will still fail to meet the NATO target.According to a report in Breaking Defence, the feds' report also does not offer a timeline for the country to meet the two percent GDP target but it argues a move to double military spending between 2016-2017 to 2026-2027 is “on track.”On track, to what? Currently, we are an embarrassment, a NATO pariah. In 2023, Canada spent 1.38% of GDP on defence, according to NATO, a lowly figure that ranks just ahead of Slovenia, Turkey, Spain and Belgium, the most meagre of alliance spenders, outside of tiny Luxembourg.Canada also says its spending taxpayers' dollars will mainly focus on partnerships relating to the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions, “two regions that are fundamental to safeguarding … security and prosperity.”A strange thing to say, since we are not members of AUKUS or the QUAD in Asia-Pacific — the latter, a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan and the US, and the former, the US, Australia and the UK.Both of those groups have shunned us, ignored us, want nothing to do with us — a monumental historical setback for Canadian foreign relations..Detailing national military priorities, Bill Blair, Canada’s defence minister, writes of the need to “confront the reality of climate change” in the High Arctic.Canada, he adds, has also witnessed “greater Russian activity” in the air domain and “a growing number of Chinese vessels and surveillance platforms” across the Arctic Ocean.The challenge — or threat — lies under the ocean surface, particularly under the ice where submarines with ballistic or cruise missiles could lurk.All true, of course, and until now, largely ignored by the Canadian government, regardless of their pledge to boost collaboration with the US to strengthen “collective security" within NORAD.Despite the ballyhoo that surrounded Canada's Madrid announcement in 2022, it's becoming clear that the modernization of North American air defence systems has a long way to go and a number of technical obstacles to overcome.For example, Over-The-Horizon (OTH) radar systems can locate targets beyond the range of conventional radar.But they also draw an enormous amount of energy. Defence scientists are still trying to figure out how to power the stations in remote northern locations in an environmentally responsible way.And while Canada's defences are currently out of date — I won't call it a shambles — 20 of the 27 EU member states have increased defence expenditure, with six increasing spending by more than 10%. Sweden (+30.1%), Luxembourg (+27.9%), Lithuania (+27.6%), Spain (+19.3%), Belgium (+14.8%) and Greece (+13.3%) recorded the highest increases.Also, the tiny Scandinavian country of Norway (a nation of just 5.457 million people) will double its military budget over the next 12 years by increasing spending by 600 billion NOK (US$56 billion), part of a “historic” new defence plan announced by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.The plan prioritizes heavy investment in new frigates and submarines to push back against Russian maritime influence, Breaking Defence reported.They see the threat from President Putin and they are taking action, not just empty words and promises. They have no choice, of course.“The Norwegian government proposes to spend a total of NOK1.6 trillion ($150 billion) on Norway’s defence over the next twelve years, until 2036,” Støre is quoted as saying in a Norwegian government statement. “By then, the defence budget will be almost twice as large as it is today, measured in real value.”Norway’s efforts to increase military capabilities across all domains comes on the heels of NATO’s two-week Nordic Response training exercise, held in March, a show of strength by allied nations to prepare for war against Russia and that comprised of 20,000 troops from 13 nations, including Canada.How did our troops fare? Well, according to a CBC report in 2023, Canadian soldiers deployed in Latvia as part of a NATO mission spent their own money on helmets and other equipment due to outdated supplies provided by the Canadian Armed Forces.Soldiers were forced to buy upgraded helmets with built-in hearing protection and headsets from online retailers white training abroad. They also had to acquire their own rain gear, tactical vests and ammunition in the same way, the CBC reported.Can you imagine any Western nation in the world, ignoring their troops in this manner?That's the reality, of Mr. Trudeau's military, not the greaseball promises he's made to garner votes in the next election.
