I have the strong impression that political parties aren't willing to increase military spending - "more guns, less butter" - because of lack of public support. (Paul Wells reported hearing that this is why Anita Anand was moved from Defence to Treasury Board.) https://paulwells.substack.com/p/anand-in-the-middle
I'm wondering if it's possible to form some kind of cross-party consensus, at least between the Liberals and Conservatives, on the need for more military spending. Philippe Lagasse suggests that this kind of consensus on the National Shipbuilding Strategy has been helpful: "As importantly, NSS has provided the Canadian Surface Combatant with political cover. Both the Liberals and the Conservatives support NSS and, so far at least, the CSC has avoided the controversy and confusion that plagued the replacement of the CF-18 fighter aircraft." https://www.readtheline.ca/p/philippe-lagasse-time-to-worry-about
(My argument to NDP politicians would be that if they don't trust the Americans, it becomes even more important for Canada to have a strong military, just as Sweden's neutral position during the Cold War meant that they needed higher military spending.)
As a layperson, the most useful discussion I've seen of Canada's military needs is a series of blog posts from more than 20 years ago, by Bruce Rolston. I'd love to see something more recent and more authoritative, especially since the Ukraine war makes it clear that high-intensity warfare against a peer adversary is now back on the table. https://old.reddit.com/r/CanadaPolitics/comments/12s4r3k/trudeau_told_nato_that_canada_will_never_meet/jgya5ta/
I most definitely fell into the category of “it was easy to decry the Armed Forces as agents of “militarism,” a view often seen in Canada today” in my younger years but as I get older and watch the world fall apart, I have this feeling in my gut that Canada is going to increasingly be left out in the cold to fend for itself (which we obviously can’t do) if something nasty happens. It’s a very Canadian attitude that “the Americans will protect us” and it’s looking more and more that they may not. And we absolutely deserve to be looked at askance for our “punching above our weight” crap.
It has been evident to me since the 1980's that the Americans will NOT protect us, unless it's in their interests to do so. With November 5 looming over all of us, poor Justin fiddles while Ukraine burns, and his Trumpanzee opposition tries to score political points at the expense of the CAF, and our NATO responsibilities.
All the outpouring along The Highway of Heroes? Seems a waste of tears, if we as a nation cannot seem to hold Junior's feet to the fire, and actually DO SOMETHING, past enjoying his shiny new A330.
Fully agree. Actually it is frightening how weak our country is; we must support our Defence.
I have the strong impression that political parties aren't willing to increase military spending - "more guns, less butter" - because of lack of public support. (Paul Wells reported hearing that this is why Anita Anand was moved from Defence to Treasury Board.) https://paulwells.substack.com/p/anand-in-the-middle
I'm wondering if it's possible to form some kind of cross-party consensus, at least between the Liberals and Conservatives, on the need for more military spending. Philippe Lagasse suggests that this kind of consensus on the National Shipbuilding Strategy has been helpful: "As importantly, NSS has provided the Canadian Surface Combatant with political cover. Both the Liberals and the Conservatives support NSS and, so far at least, the CSC has avoided the controversy and confusion that plagued the replacement of the CF-18 fighter aircraft." https://www.readtheline.ca/p/philippe-lagasse-time-to-worry-about
(My argument to NDP politicians would be that if they don't trust the Americans, it becomes even more important for Canada to have a strong military, just as Sweden's neutral position during the Cold War meant that they needed higher military spending.)
As a layperson, the most useful discussion I've seen of Canada's military needs is a series of blog posts from more than 20 years ago, by Bruce Rolston. I'd love to see something more recent and more authoritative, especially since the Ukraine war makes it clear that high-intensity warfare against a peer adversary is now back on the table. https://old.reddit.com/r/CanadaPolitics/comments/12s4r3k/trudeau_told_nato_that_canada_will_never_meet/jgya5ta/
I most definitely fell into the category of “it was easy to decry the Armed Forces as agents of “militarism,” a view often seen in Canada today” in my younger years but as I get older and watch the world fall apart, I have this feeling in my gut that Canada is going to increasingly be left out in the cold to fend for itself (which we obviously can’t do) if something nasty happens. It’s a very Canadian attitude that “the Americans will protect us” and it’s looking more and more that they may not. And we absolutely deserve to be looked at askance for our “punching above our weight” crap.
It has been evident to me since the 1980's that the Americans will NOT protect us, unless it's in their interests to do so. With November 5 looming over all of us, poor Justin fiddles while Ukraine burns, and his Trumpanzee opposition tries to score political points at the expense of the CAF, and our NATO responsibilities.
All the outpouring along The Highway of Heroes? Seems a waste of tears, if we as a nation cannot seem to hold Junior's feet to the fire, and actually DO SOMETHING, past enjoying his shiny new A330.