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Justin Trudeau hints at boosting Canada’s military spending

Justin Trudeau hints at boosting Canada’s military spending

Canada says it will look at increasing its defence spending and tacked on 10 more Russian names to an ever growing sanctions list.

By Tonda MacCharles
Ottawa Bureau
Mon., March 7, 2022

Riga, LATVIA—On the 13th day of the brutal Russian bid to claim Ukraine as its own, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is showing up at the Latvian battle group led by Canadian soldiers, waving the Maple Leaf and a vague hint at more money for the military.

Canada has been waving the NATO flag for nearly seven years in Latvia as a bulwark against Russia’s further incursions in Eastern Europe.

Canada stepped up to lead one of NATO’s four battle groups in 2015 — part of the defensive alliance’s display of strength and solidarity with weaker member states after Russia invaded Ukraine and seized the Crimean peninsula in 2014. Trudeau arrived in the Latvian capital late Monday after meetings in the U.K. with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

Earlier Monday, faced with a seemingly unstoppable war in Ukraine, Trudeau said he will look at increasing Canada’s defence spending. Given world events, he said there are “certainly reflections to have.”

And Canada tacked on 10 more Russian names to an ever-growing sanctions list.

The latest round of sanctions includes names Trudeau said were identified by jailed Russian opposition leader and Putin nemesis Alexei Navalny.

However, on a day when Trudeau cited the new sanctions, and Johnson touted new measures meant to expose Russian property owners in his country, Rutte admitted sanctions are not working.

Yet they all called for more concerted international efforts over the long haul, including more economic measures and more humanitarian aid, with Johnson and Rutte divided over how quickly countries need to get off Russian oil and gas.

The 10 latest names on Canada’s target list do not include Roman Abramovich — a Russian billionaire Navalny has been flagging to Canada since at least 2017. Canada appears to have sanctioned about 20 of the 35 names on Navalny’s list.

The Conservative opposition says the Liberal government is not yet exerting maximum pressure on Putin, and should do more to bolster Canadian Forces, including by finally approving the purchase of fighter jets.

Foreign affairs critic Michael Chong said in an interview that Ottawa must still sanction “additional oligarchs close to President Putin who have significant assets in Canada.”

Abramovich owns more than a quarter of the public shares in steelmaking giant Evraz, which has operations in Alberta and Saskatchewan and has supplied most of the steel for the government-owned Trans Mountain pipeline project.

Evraz’s board of directors also includes two more Russians the U.S. government identified as “oligarchs” in 2019 — Aleksandr Abramov and Aleksandr Frolov — and its Canadian operations have received significant support from the federal government.

That includes at least $27 million in emergency wage subsidies during the pandemic, as well as $7 million through a fund meant to help heavy-polluters reduce emissions that cause climate change, according to the company’s most recent annual report.

In addition to upping defence spending, the Conservatives want NORAD’s early warning system upgraded, naval shipbuilding ramped up and Arctic security bolstered.

In London, Johnson sat down with Trudeau and Rutte at the Northolt airbase. Their morning meetings had a rushed feel, with Johnson starting to usher press out before Trudeau spoke. His office said later that the British PM couldn’t squeeze the full meeting in at 10 Downing Street because Johnson’s “diary” was so busy that day. The three leaders held an afternoon news conference at 10 Downing.

But before that Trudeau met with the Queen, saying she was “insightful” and they had a “useful, for me anyway, conversation about global affairs.”

Trudeau meets with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Tuesday in Latvia.

The prime minister will also meet with three Baltic leaders, the prime ministers of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, in the Latvian capital of Riga.

The Liberals announced they would increase the 500 Canadian Forces in Latvia by another 460 troops. The Canadians are leading a multinational battle group, one of four that are part of NATO’s deployments in the region.

Another 3,400 Canadians could be deployed to the region in the months to come, on standby for NATO orders.

But Canada’s shipments of lethal aid to Ukraine were slow to come in the view of the Conservatives, and the Ukrainian Canadian community.

And suddenly Western allies are eyeing each other’s defence commitments.

At the Downing Street news conference, Rutte noted the Netherlands will increase its defence budget to close to two per cent of GDP. Germany has led the G7, and doubled its defence budget in the face of Putin’s invasion and threats. Johnson said the U.K. defence spending is about 2.4 per cent and declined to comment on Canada’s defence spending which is 1.4 per cent of GDP.

But Johnson didn’t hold back.

“What we can’t do, post the invasion of Ukraine is assume that we go back to a kind of status quo ante, a kind of new normalization in the way that we did after the … seizure of Crimea and the Donbas area,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to recognize that things have changed and that we need a new focus on security and I think that that is kind of increasingly understood by everybody.”

Trudeau stood by his British and Dutch counterparts and pledged Canada would do more.

He defended his government’s record, saying Ottawa is gradually increasing spending over the next decade by 70 per cent. Then Trudeau admitted more might be necessary.

“We also recognize that context is changing rapidly around the world and we need to make sure that women and men have certainty and our forces have all the equipment necessary to be able to stand strongly as we always have. As members of NATO. We will continue to look at what more we can do.”

The three leaders — Johnson, a conservative and Trudeau and Rutte, progressive liberals — in a joint statement said they “will continue to impose severe costs on Russia.”

Arriving for the news conference from Windsor Castle, Trudeau had to detour to enter Downing Street as loud so-called Freedom Convoy protesters bellowed from outside the gate. They carried signs marked “Tuck Frudeau” and “Free Tamara” (Lich).

Protester Jeff Wyatt who said he has no Canadian ties told the Star he came to stand up for Lich and others who were leading a “peaceful protest” worldwide against government “lies” about COVID-19 and what he called Trudeau’s “tyranny.”

Elsewhere in London, outside the Russian embassy, other protesters and passersby reflected on what they said was real tyranny — the Russian attack on Ukraine. “I think we should be as tough as possible to get this stopped, as tough as possible,” said protester Clive Martinez.
 
Two words Canada Customs.
To be fair it may have changed in the last 15 years.
😆

Ahhhhh, CBSA….


(It wasn’t ‘changed’ as recently as 6 years, 2 months and 12 days ago… 😉 )
 
Weinie, G2G,

Not sure why they’d go to length for an internal advertised staffing process (and waste many people’s time) when it is entirely possible and acceptable to go the internal unadvertised route?
Yeah, one might think that.........................................................................oh..............wait a minute.
 
Knowing what I know now, definitely a complement! 😉
 
Anyone willing to give a WAG on what Thursday's budget may contain in terms of actual net new spending or direction? Will it all be smoke and mirrors or will it contain actual achievable items?
 
Anyone willing to give a WAG on what Thursday's budget may contain in terms of actual net new spending or direction? Will it all be smoke and mirrors or will it contain actual achievable items?
I’m betting NORAD folks will be happy, as the gov’t re/re/re-confirms their commitment to continental defence. Most others will be “meh”
 
Anyone willing to give a WAG on what Thursday's budget may contain in terms of actual net new spending or direction? Will it all be smoke and mirrors or will it contain actual achievable items?
I want to be optimistic. But I guess we’ll see.

I think we’ll see some commitments to NORAD. Maybe even some Arctic stuff. And possibly an effort to fix the spending we currently have. I’d like to see as many items we can fast track pushed forward. Small arms, STANO etc.
 
I want to be optimistic. But I guess we’ll see.

I think we’ll see some commitments to NORAD. Maybe even some Arctic stuff. And possibly an effort to fix the spending we currently have. I’d like to see as many items we can fast track pushed forward. Small arms, STANO etc.
I don’t think we are currently in a position to receive massive investment other than that but I would add money for the reconstitution/personnel.
 
A couple of thoughts:
  1. Defence funding isn’t just for the next fiscal year, it can (should) be for a methodical, demonstrable (ie. not virtue-signaling bagflegarb) increase in operational AND organizational capability/capacity over a significant period of time - at least 10-15 years, if not 20+ (Not just a ‘say words to get us to/past the next election’ effort).
  2. It should be explicitly included in budgetary legislation that the Defence portion is non-partisan in nature and endorsed by all parties, not just a plurality, and protected from retraction in furniture years, except in a proportional degree that the whole of a budget may be contracted in future due to overall fiscal pressures.
That said, I think any plus up to Defence will have lots of loopholes in the wording, and when things are different in Ukraine, we’ll see commitments kicked further down the road, Chrystia Freeland’s ties to Ukraine notwithstanding.
 
I want to be optimistic. But I guess we’ll see.

I think we’ll see some commitments to NORAD. Maybe even some Arctic stuff. And possibly an effort to fix the spending we currently have. I’d like to see as many items we can fast track pushed forward. Small arms, STANO etc.
NORAD for sure. The Americans have been pushing Canada to make a commitment and all they have been getting is silence.
 
More details from Jean Charest on what he would do if elected PM:

Jean Charest says Canada 'unprepared' for conflict, pitches major investments in defence

Former Quebec premier turned Conservative leadership candidate promises billions in new military spending

John Paul Tasker · CBC News · Posted: Apr 04, 2022 12:59 PM ET | Last Updated: April 4

Conservative leadership candidate Jean Charest said Monday a government led by him would spend much more money on Canada's armed forces and promised cash to buy new equipment and establish two new military bases in the Arctic.

Charest — who made the announcement while touring Nova Scotia, a province that is home to a large number of military personnel and veterans — said Canada has been underfunding the armed forces for too long and Russia's invasion of Ukraine has underscored just how "unprepared" the country really is.
"[Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau's indifference and inaction in support of the Canadian Armed Forces has made it harder to retain qualified personnel, harder to recruit, tougher to train, and impossible for Canada to meet its obligations to its allies globally. Our allies have taken notice and are choosing to leave us out of important security arrangements," Charest said, referring to the AUKUS military pact signed by Australia, the U.S. and the United Kingdom last year.

To get Canada back in the mix, Charest said he'd boost military spending to 2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) as "quickly as it can be responsibly done." GDP is a metric used to measure the size of a country's entire economy.

Under the current Liberal government, military spending was about 1.36 per cent of GDP in 2021, according to NATO figures — well below what the country spent during the Cold War.

In the 1960s, Canada's military spending amounted to roughly 4 per cent of GDP. It was around 2 per cent in the 1980s before it dropped dramatically during a period of austerity and budget cuts in the 1990s.

All NATO members, including Canada, have committed to spending 2 per cent of national GDP on the military. But Canada, like some other countries, has done little to actually hit that target.

Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland, left, and Minister of National Defence Anita Anand arrive at a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday, March 3, 2022. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
With the war in Ukraine raging, Defence Minister Anita Anand signalled recently Canada will commit more money to the military in this week's federal budget. To hit the NATO target, Canada's defence budget would have to increase from the planned $32 billion spending target to roughly $58 billion.

Charest said that, if he becomes prime minister, he'd direct some of the promised new spending to establishing two new military bases in the Arctic — including a deepwater port — and purchase two armed icebreakers to shore up Canada's presence in the region. He said he'd work with the U.S. to modernize NORAD defensive and early warning systems and "explore" the possibility of upgrading the submarine fleet to do a better job of defending all three of Canada's coasts.

The Liberal government restarted the fighter jet procurement process when it first assumed office in 2015, something Charest said was "irresponsible."

While Trudeau initially ran for office opposed to buying Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter planes, the government now appears poised to sign a deal for those aircraft, which are already used by the U.S. and other NATO allies.

Charest said the seven-year-long process to buy these jets has been too slow. He said a government led by him would "streamline bureaucratic processes" and "speed up competitions" to accelerate future purchases and avoid costly delays.

In addition to ongoing procurement issues, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has also struggled to recruit new members in recent years.

There's money on the books to bring the fighting force up to 71,500 regular members and 30,000 reservists but the CAF is well off that mark. At last count, there were only about 65,000 regular force members.

Charest said he'd strive to make the CAF a more welcoming work environment by tackling the sexual misconduct that has plagued the military in recent years, dragging down efforts to recruit more women.

The former Quebec premier said Trudeau has overseen a "dysfunctional and unacceptable deterioration" in the CAF and the military has become a place where "female, minority and LGBTQ+ have experienced systemic and unfair obstacles while participating in what should be safe and merit-based environments."

He said he'd also try to woo back recently retired CAF members with unspecified incentives and force Canada's colleges and universities to allow military recruiters to set up recruitment centres on their campuses.

As for Canada's veterans, Charest promised a return to the pre-2006 Pension Act benefits that were available to disabled and injured veterans. The rollout of a new benefits and pensions regime has been an ongoing source of consternation for former CAF members injured on duty.

He also promised new benefits for veterans with a minimum of five years regular force service or reservists who were in the CAF for at least seven years. He said those benefits could include access to low-cost mortgages, loans for veterans who want to start or expand a business and education grants for those who want to study in another field.


Link

 
I’m betting NORAD folks will be happy, as the gov’t re/re/re-confirms their commitment to continental defence. Most others will be “meh”
Not new funding, but this year for a change we've had a bunch of NP funding released at the very start of the FY pretty much across the board. The last little while it's been hit or miss, and in some cases it was the summer before we got even a portion of the funds. I think right now the projects I'm running with had more funding 1 April then I had last fall, unless I went hat in hand to beg for it.

Managing NP funding for system support can be a high LOE task, so that was a nice change.
 
And once again the stupid two armed icebreakers that CPC promised in 2005 campaign. Many Conservatives are just as ignorant about defence/Coast Guard as Liberals, NDP. Sigh. All spin.

Mark
Ottawa
He’s not getting the leadership. I’ll pay attention to Charest when he’s the leader. And on that he would be my current choice but I know that isn’t happening.
 
Charest has promised to remove political interference from procurement, and also to ensure Canadian industry in supported through the CSPS, so it's a wash.
 
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