More than 5,000 coast-to-coast wildfires in 2023 sparked new debate on the neglected state of Canada’s emergency preparedness. And, Canada’s Emergency Management Act states the responsibility to handle disasters rests with the provinces and territories..Yet the severely stretched military is usually called upon first to assist local responders stretched beyond their limits.. Ice stormMembers of the Canadian Forces reserve knock the heavy ice off of hydro lines in Kemptville, ON. These members were deployed as part of Operation RECUPERATION to aid victims of the January 1998 ice storm in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. .Really? It should be a last resort. The role of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is to defend Canada and our allies against increasing domestic and foreign threats..Yet, the Liberal government says it has plans to improve the Federal Emergency Response Plan (FERP). An emergencies ministry spokesperson told the CBC Ottawa’s right on top of preparing for future disasters. And, Defence Minister Bill Blair said Canadians can count on the military being deployed to respond to emergencies..To what extent? When local responders are overwhelmed, or as the revamped climate change combat force Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants?.Trudeau issued a directive last fall to the four-party member Standing Committee on National Defence to “re-role” part or all the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) into a climate change force..The Liberals are climate-obsessed..Traditionally, Liberal prime ministers reduced the CAF and made grand promises to buy desperately needed equipment that got shelved, cancelled or disappeared into the ozone..If it’s still Trudeau’s objective to create a climate warrior force — nothing indicates it isn’t — the feds aim to solve Canada’s underfunded, neglected emergency management problem by further depleting the underfunded, neglected CAF..So, the plan would be to fix what is broken by further breaking what’s broken. Got it!.“The left wants a dedicated force to combat climate change,” retired Lt.-Col. David Redman recently told the Western Standard.. David RedmanDavid Redman .That’s why he was called in by the Conservatives to testify before the defence committee in October..Insiders said the CAF’s at a 34,000 low of personel and dropping in terms of operational readiness despite official claims of a 63,477 regular force strength. The Reserve Force is “decimated.”.“The Standing Committee on National Defence should be screaming their heads off to the Canadian public about our Armed Forces,” said Redman..Redman served 27 years in the military. The former head of Alberta’s Emergency Management Agency served as an emergency manager for 13 years in Canada and internationally..“They asked me to testify because they were horrified that Trudeau had directed them to re-role part or all of the Canadian Forces into a climate change force,” said Redman..“The Liberal chair had been told by Trudeau to have the committee review and present options for permanently dedicating portions of the CAF for climate change response.”.Trudeau wanted a paper on whether the CAF “by a third, a fourth, or all of it should be re-roled.”.Redman told committee member Conservative Cheryl Gallant: “Your Standing Committee has no aim and is wandering in an abyss where discussions about using the military for anything other than defence is ludicrous.”.But the federal government has wandered in the abyss for years when handling emergency management and defence..“In 2008, the Senate Standing Committee on Emergency Preparedness wrote a scathing, detailed report about emergency management. If anything, Canada has gone backwards,” said Redman..The title — Emergency Preparedness in Canada: how the fine arts of bafflegab and procrastination hobble the people who will be trying to save you when things get really bad — speaks for itself..Despite pledging his commitment to defence and military funding, Blair’s appointment as defence minister in July wasn’t celebrated..“The day he was announced the minister of defence I said this is the largest slap in the face to the CAF. That man is a mark of disdain to the CAF,” said Redman. “The Government of Canada uses rhetoric, and the appointment of Bill Blair shows that once again it is his job to simply give Liberal rhetoric, not to do anything while the Armed Forces disappears.”.Blair was shuffled to defence from emergency preparedness where he served as minister since 2019..In 2019 former chief of the defence staff Gen. Jonathan Vance said the CAF was at its limit responding to natural disasters and needed more specific training to handle fighting fires and floods..Meanwhile, pleas for federal emergency funding to the provinces and territories weren’t adequately met..Here we are. After Blair’s four years in his former post, emergency preparedness is still broken and now he’s in charge of fixing defence.. Bill Blair .But Blair did a bang-up job heading the 2016 federal-provincial task force to create a plan for the legalization of cannabis..In 2022, Blair played a key role in the Liberal response to the Freedom Convoy protest when the Emergencies (War Measures) Act was invoked..Redman argues the private sector and civil services can address climate disaster response more effectively and less expensively..“The army, navy and air force are not there to fight climate change. They are there to defend our sovereignty and the strength of our allies,” said Redman..Because soldiers know how to use shovels to dig slit trenches, they’re not firefighters..“And they’re not soldiers anymore. They’re civilians filling sandbags and cutting down trees.”.Former national security advisor Richard Fadden also told the committee the military isn’t trained to respond to fires and floods. He warned that the government’s misuse of the military for disaster response diverted troops from training and ability to respond to global commitments as international threats mount..Canada shouldn’t use the CAF as primary natural disaster responders unless the aim is “to destroy it and have a Peace Corp,” said Redman..Déjà vu?.This isn’t the first Trudeau with a different vision for the CAF. In 1970, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau wanted to pull out of NATO, form a Peace Corps, and dramatically reduce the CAF..“He got stuck by NATO that said, ‘you either keep a division in Europe armed with a main battle tank, you keep your fighter jets in Europe, we had three squadrons, or there’ll be no trade with Europe.”.Currently, Canada’s NATO and NORAD allies repeatedly chastise junior for failing to contribute the required 2% GDP to defence..National/Canadians security tops Redman’s list defining national interests..Canada needs an Armed Forces “designated and trained to fight alone and to fight with our allies on land, sea and air” to protect sovereignty.”.Emergency management response is a “side benefit.”.Chief of the Defence Staff Wayne Eyre admitted the military’s strained from being called on to respond to disasters. He’s “very, very worried about our numbers.”.Has he fallen on his sword to stop the Liberals from misusing his troops, or morphing them into climate warriors?.“Where’s Wayne Eyre? Wayne Eyre is hiding in the woods. He’s working on his next job,” said Redman..A succession of Liberal-appointed chiefs of the defence staff went on to “cushy appointments because of all of their wonderful service to the Liberal government.”.“The chief of the defence staff should have nothing to do with government. They are there to defend the soldiers, sailors and air people that work for them while ensuring the operational readiness of the Armed Forces to the best of their ability.”.“They are not supposed to be political appointments. That, in my opinion, is what every general officer is to this day.”.“Rick Hillier (former chief of the defence staff) was an anomaly. He had moral integrity and courage in the middle of the morass around him.”.Now consider this example of the state of CAF members..About 8,500 regular and reserve members were deployed to shore up dikes and protect civilians during Manitoba’s 1997 Red River flood..In 1998, 16,000 regular and reserve force personnel responded to the ice storm that struck parts of Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick..“We deployed 150 soldiers to the NWT to fight fires. That’s a joke. The Liberal government said, ‘We’ve deployed Canadian Forces.’ Then very quietly down in the margins they said it was 150.”.“They could have gotten more people by calling out the boy scouts.”.Canadians need rapid response when disasters strike. Canadians also need protection from foreign and domestic threats. Apparently, we can’t have both. Will climate trump defence?
