Posted at 5:00 am
More than a year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, former ministers, ambassadors and chiefs of staff are calling on the Trudeau government to launch a “major reassessment” of Canada’s defense posture to protect the country from potential “foreign or domestic” threats.
“Russia’s brutal war of aggression in Ukraine, the first major conflict in Europe since World War II, and the continued build-up of the military arsenals of authoritarian regimes willing to use their policies of revenge with violence should have led to a fundamental reassessment of our defensive position,” reads a letter signed by dozens of eminent personalities and published on Monday in La Presse’s Debates section.
Among the signatories are former Defense Ministers Peter MacKay and David Pratt, but also former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada Beverley McLachlin and former NATO Military Committee Chairman and Chief of Defense Staff Raymond Henault. Several former ministers, senators, ambassadors or managers also join them.
Together they lament that “unfortunately, the latest federal budget was largely a summary of previous announcements, without acknowledging that the government needs to accelerate spending programs and release significant additional funds to address long-standing deficits in military capabilities and readiness.”
The signatories welcome “the recent announcements by Defense Minister Anita Anand” about the procurement of replacement aircraft for the CF-18 aircraft fleet and the modernization of NORAD, but insist that “much more” will be required.
“It is important for the government to invest in improving the ministry’s ability to spend its budget in a timely and timely manner,” they stress.
However, “The next defense policy update is late and comes at a time of great peril to world peace and security in the face of threats from China and Russia,” the signatories assert, noting that “Canada’s security and freedoms will not be taken for granted can “.
A bipartisan approach
In the eyes of the signatories, the Trudeau administration should immediately “accelerate deadlines and complete the critical work needed to address the poor state of our nation’s defense capabilities and preparedness.” “Provided it is properly explained, we believe this could be achieved on an impartial basis and with broad public support,” they argue.
Ultimately, “Canada cannot afford to continue business as usual”. “We urge Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet to take the lead and act with a sense of urgency to meet the NATO Secretary General’s call for the 2% GDP target to be treated as a floor, not a spending ceiling.” , it says further the said letter.
Last June, Parliament’s budget officer, Yves Giroux, revealed in a report that the federal government would need to increase military spending by $75.3 billion over the next five years in order for Canada to meet its target of spending 2% of its GDP on defense , as required by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Now is the time to fully redeem the commitments we have made to our allies and partners by sharing the burden of collective security essential to maintaining our peace, prosperity and way of life.
Excerpt from the letter
According to data from the federal government last summer, Canada’s military spending will increase from $36.3 billion in 2022-23 to about $51 billion in 2026-27. This $15 billion increase will take the country’s military spending from 1.33% of GDP to 1.59%.
Since Russia began invading Ukraine, pressure has mounted on the Trudeau government to drastically increase defense spending.
At the end of August, the Canadian Forces were 9,500 below the operational threshold. “This is worrying and puts us in a very precarious situation,” Major General Simon Bernard, director general of military personnel, said in an interview with La Presse.
More recently, in February, Justin Trudeau announced that Canada would donate four additional Leopard 2 main battle tanks to help the Ukrainian Armed Forces in their defense against Russian forces, bringing Canada’s total contribution to eight tanks.