There is lots of speculation that the upcoming budget is going to have a windfall of money earmarked for upgrading and equipping the Canadian Armed Forces. Before this potentially happens, can someone clearly articulate what we should spend it on and reasons why? This isn’t a rhetorical question; I honestly want to know, we all should.
Before allocating billions of dollars to the Defence budget we should take a tactical pause and really reflect on what it is we want our Armed Forces to be and do.
As a country we have an illustrious military past, often punching above our weight, regularly sought out by our allies due to our grit, and resourcefulness. But times have changed, and our societal values along with it.
I will use the war between Ukraine and Russia as an example.
That is happening in Ukraine is an unimaginable horror. Yet despite its potential to draw the entire world into a global conflict, if you walked down any Canadian street and asked 25 random people about how concerned they are regarding “Bucha, Kharkiv and Mariupol”, most would say it hasn’t affected them...assuming they knew what you were even talking about in the first place.
The degree of opinions on Canada's participation in conflict show clear lines of where that should begin and end. An Ipsos poll of 1000 Canadians conducted for Global News in early March found only 39 percent supported our military being directly involved in the conflict. If, as a country, we aren’t willing to commit our Armed Forces to conflict, especially one as seemingly justifiable as this, then we need to evaluate what the CAF is for before we spend any money on them.
If Canadians of the 21st Century don’t want to send other Canadians into conflict that’s fine. If non-combatant status is our national aspiration let's own it. If we did, at least we could give up the charade of boasting about our “robust Armed Forces” (which it isn’t) and having the political and national will to use it (which we don’t).
From this fundamental understanding, we could begin to have a genuine conversation about what we want our armed forces to do and prioritize our defence spending. But In tandem we must also address military procurement, because if we don’t, then regardless of how the first conversation plays out, any new mission given to the CAF is equally likely to fail.
What do we want Canada? Do we look to claim neutrality like Switzerland and adopt a purely defensive force with an emphasis on individual citizen readiness? Everyone just goes through a 3-month basic training upon completion of high-school, like summer camp but with guns. Maybe this is more in line with our collective modern values and desired lifestyles.
In this scenario the Regular Force could be drastically reduced focusing on training establishments, domestic anti-terrorism, intelligence, doctrine, communications, logistics, and command and control to support national standards, coordination, etc.
More emphasis and spending could then be put towards the Reserve Force where well equipped units could build grassroots community support, and quickly react to domestic emergencies such as fires, floods, ice storms, etc. in line with OP LENTUS. The remaining bulk of defence spending could be allocated to a robust search and rescue (SAR) capability (because we’re an expansive country), and our air and coastal defence (because our powerful neighbour expects it).
This is a significant issue; it shouldn’t be left to the decision of a government concerned about optics and approval polls. A nation’s military, its members and what it stands for is more important than party politics and egos. We need the collective opinion of our country, decided in a referendum, to answer the questions legitimately and definitively about how the Canadian Armed Forces, are employed and equipped.
Anything less and we will only delay that hard conversation, and in the meantime be satisfied with the status quo, which is the least we can do, is the best we can offer.
John Thomson
