Canadians did not need a leaked report, an auditor’s warning, or a parliamentary inquiry to tell them the Armed Forces are in trouble. All it watching them march, or rather, failing to do so.The now viral CTV clip from the November 11, 2025 Remembrance Day ceremony in London, Ontario shows uniformed Canadian Armed Forces personnel attempting a solemn parade march. What it actually captured was a formation with no rhythm, no synchronization, and no cohesion. .Feet landed at random intervals. Ranks drifted in and out of alignment. The scene looked less like a military display and more like a rehearsal that should never have left the drill hall.Canadians noticed. Responses online were blunt, emotional, and overwhelmingly embarrassed.The uncomfortable truth is that it reflects the current reality more accurately than any government briefing or promise..Some will insist that marching does not win wars in the 21st century. That is undoubtedly true. Technology has made the concept of marching being the difference maker in modern warfare obsolete.But drill reveals discipline. It exposes whether the people carrying weapons can operate as a collective, whether discipline matters, and whether pride in uniform is still real or simply ceremonial.The basics matter because they reflect the foundation. If synchronized marching is too much to ask, how prepared are we for anything more difficult than a ceremony..On Remembrance Day, of all days, the failure hits hardest. It is the single moment in the national calendar where Canadians expect precision, dignity, and respect, not disorder and sloppiness.The broader state of the Armed Forces does nothing to soften the impact. Canada has fewer operational tanks than generals.The nation has one functioning submarine responsible for patrolling the longest coastline on Earth. The fighter fleet is aging out of relevance and recruitment numbers have stalled to the point where lofty expansion plans are more fiction than policy..The reserve force has not met its modest personnel goal even once since it was introduced in 2017, yet leadership now talks casually about increasing its size to 400,000. It is difficult to recruit when the institution itself appears uncertain of its mission, its standards, or its identity.Official language continues to focus on rebranding, restructuring, and modernization. Meanwhile morale declines, retention weakens, and operational readiness continues to deteriorate.The institutions tasked with maintaining national defence are now buried under administrative complexity and optics driven decision making, while the fundamentals decay in plain view..A country cannot rely on feelings, slogans, or aspirational recruitment goals to defend itself. A military without standards loses the seriousness required to function as a fighting force.A nation that apologizes for its history will struggle to inspire citizens to defend it. A force that cannot march in step will struggle to fight as one.The lack of synchronization seen in that Remembrance Day parade was more than an awkward moment..It was a symbol. Not of the soldiers themselves, who can only operate to the standard set for them, but of an entire institution adrift.Canada once produced soldiers who marched with precision because the meaning behind the ritual was understood. It was not pageantry. It was unity, discipline, and readiness.What the country saw instead was hesitation, fragmentation, and uncertainty.Until Canada restores purpose, standards, training, and seriousness to its Armed Forces, that clip will remain far more than a viral embarrassment.It will remain a warning.
