THOMSON: As the government offers Christmas freebies, the military languishes

The Liberal government's plan to give Canadians a two-month GST tax break and a $250 cheque in the spring stands to cost our treasury in excess of $6 billion dollars. It’s an expense economists say isn’t worth the hassle or the cost and would be better spent elsewhere.Might I suggest our national defence?Given Canada is hosting the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s 70th Annual Session in Montreal this week, that would have been a smart move by our prime minister. But I suppose cutting cheques and dancing at a Taylor Swift concert while Montreal (the host city) is besieged by an antisemitic anarchist riot is a choice too.Over the past year Canada has faced intense scrutiny from NATO and our allies for being laggards when it comes to the defence alliance’s 2% of GDP defence-spending benchmark. It wasn’t until this past July that Ottawa announced it would meet that target... but not until 2032. Even then they did not provide a concrete path as to how they would.Following that announcement, economists interviewed by CTV indicated that “an additional allocation of C$15 billion to C$20 billion over the next eight years” would be necessary to meet that commitment. They also warned that Canada was not well positioned to do so based on our current deficit and the government's penchant for spending on just about anything else. This observation was not lost on retired Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie, himself a former Liberal MP. Leslie pointed out the disconnect between what the government has promised to do to meet its NATO commitments and the announcement of the GST holiday and $250 cheques.There is no doubt that the former general and a number of defence industry analysts would happily advise the government on where to spend those billions of dollars to improve our defence capabilities.The need for increased production of artillery shells for both Canada and Ukraine comes to mind. So too does the need to integrate first-person-view (FPV) drones into the Canadian Armed Forces arsenal. But in regard to the latter, there is no plan to do so despite the clear tactical advantage they bring to the battlefield.And while it’s true that in the past campaigning on increased defence spending was never rewarded by the Canadian electorate, times have changed. This was evident in a recent article in the Globe and Mail which reported that “53 per cent of Canadians now back increasing defence spending to NATO’s 2 per cent of GDP target.” Which means the blatant and cynical attempt to bribe them for votes with their own money when priorities lie elsewhere, was a poor tactical decision.As a result the Liberals have made it abundantly clear to Canadians, their NATO allies and other world leaders, that they are far more concerned about their own political fortunes than Canada’s strategic defence capabilities and contributions to NATO and global security.Which is why when the prime minister and our minister of defence address the NATO assembly, the only words that should pass their lips are a sincere apology. Because when one considers all the events of the past 72hrs, nothing else will suffice.

THOMSON: As the government offers Christmas freebies, the military languishes

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