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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.
 
I said the same thing 10 years ago when everyone was salivating over the Pivot to the Pacific. Nobody liked it because it would mean acknowledging some uneasy truths about ourselves.

Canada has actual interests in the Caribbean, it would actually make sense to focus efforts there and in Central South America.

Agree.
 
I said the same thing 10 years ago when everyone was salivating over the Pivot to the Pacific. Nobody liked it because it would mean acknowledging some uneasy truths about ourselves.

Canada has actual interests in the Caribbean, it would actually make sense to focus efforts there and in Central South America.

It would also strengthen the Commonwealth and associations with the Brits and the Dutch.
 
As much as I love the Caribbean, somehow this would seem like being relegated to the minor leagues…the not-quite-ready-for-prime-time players.

I think that is part of our problem. There are lots of jobs that need to get done that we reject out of hand because we want to play in the big leagues. But we don't put in our time in the minor leagues. The Brits and the Yanks spend a lot of time and money doing routine stuff like anti-piracy and anti-poaching efforts and regularly deploy on humanitarian and constabulary missions, even fisheries patrols.

That is how they build skills and connections and rationales for new kit. Not to mention justifying their existence when not engaged in war fighting.
 
As much as I love the Caribbean, somehow this would seem like being relegated to the minor leagues…the not-quite-ready-for-prime-time players.
Relegated generally means others placing someone somewhere.

Canada has, through its own deliberate actions and body of work, positioned itself as…well, to be honest, the bat boy for the minor leagues.
 
Caribbean’s better than nothing. But there are more important places in the world for a G7 nation to be. Ahhhh, if we only had more ships and more personnel. Remember the old phrase, “Ride to the sound of the guns?”
 
Caribbean’s better than nothing. But there are more important places in the world for a G7 nation to be.
I'll play devil's advocate.

Being a G7 nation doesn't mean that we have to be involved in all areas of the world. Japan is a G7 nation - how many military deployments do they do, now that they're allowed to have long-term foreign deployments?

We are, at best, a middle player at this point. Maybe it's time to think "regional" rather than "global".
 
I'll play devil's advocate.

Being a G7 nation doesn't mean that we have to be involved in all areas of the world. Japan is a G7 nation - how many military deployments do they do, now that they're allowed to have long-term foreign deployments?

We are, at best, a middle player at this point. Maybe it's time to think "regional" rather than "global".
I’m not disagreeing with you. Mainly just howling at the moon.
 
Barbados ditched Her Majesty, Jamaica is up next. Won’t be much left of the Commonwealth over the next two decades.

All the more reason to bind in on whatever other grounds we can. We are not short of Jamaicans and Bajians in Canada.
 
Think small, be small.
Think big, be big.

I’d much rather be a smaller fish swimming in a large lake than be a big fish in a small pond.

This country could be so much more than an Australia if we only learned to have some self confidence, stop being so bloody cheap and constantly looking over our shoulder.
 
All the more reason to bind in on whatever other grounds we can. We are not short of Jamaicans and Bajians in Canada.
We have a heck of a lot more Ukrainians, Poles, Italians, Indians, Chinese than we do of the other two.
 
Think small, be small.
Think big, be big.

I’d much rather be a smaller fish swimming in a large lake than be a big fish in a small pond.

This country could be so much more than an Australia if we only learned to have some self confidence, stop being so bloody cheap and constantly looking over our shoulder.
You said it perfectly.
 
Think small, be small.
Think big, be big.

I’d much rather be a smaller fish swimming in a large lake than be a big fish in a small pond.

This country could be so much more than an Australia if we only learned to have some self confidence, stop being so bloody cheap and constantly looking over our shoulder.

So why not offer another pole for the Caribbean to coalesce around. This world is rapidly becoming a matter of who you can bring to the party with you. Why not a Canadian coalition?
 
I said the same thing 10 years ago when everyone was salivating over the Pivot to the Pacific. Nobody liked it because it would mean acknowledging some uneasy truths about ourselves.

Canada has actual interests in the Caribbean, it would actually make sense to focus efforts there and in Central South America.

Made me think: If we were pragmatic and had a vision: couldn't we take additional responsibility in the Caribbean and South America from the hands of any of our friends?

RN resources in the area

My "doctrine" would be to shift focus to an area that we could alleviate some strain from our NATO buddies. Europe will be boltering up against Russia for at least the next 10 years, wouldn't it be great if its lazy Canadian friend got up and took over Europe's Caribbean responsibilities?

I'm sure the French, UK and Dutch would appreciate it if we took a leading role of HADR/training in their Caribbean territories, should the time come.

It would be much more sustainable for us. France, UK and Dutch may shut up about us not meeting 2% GDP if we took the load off their hands. It wouldn't require all that much money (although we'd find a way to waste it). On the higher-end, i'd see us making a meaningful difference in an area few are paying attention to.

Off the top of my head, as Supreme Emperor, i'd build a Karel Doorrman or Mistral for global HADR/TG capability, expand our AOR fleet, buy 2 more MCDV replacements and base them in CFB Jamrock (TM) with a Herc or 2, get some riverine CB90s for the RCN and Army. Feel free to add to this...
 
Made me think: If we were pragmatic and had a vision: couldn't we take additional responsibility in the Caribbean and South America from the hands of any of our friends?

RN resources in the area

My "doctrine" would be to shift focus to an area that we could alleviate some strain from our NATO buddies. Europe will be boltering up against Russia for at least the next 10 years, wouldn't it be great if its lazy Canadian friend got up and took over Europe's Caribbean responsibilities?

I'm sure the French, UK and Dutch would appreciate it if we took a leading role of HADR/training in their Caribbean territories, should the time come.

It would be much more sustainable for us. France, UK and Dutch may shut up about us not meeting 2% GDP if we took the load off their hands. It wouldn't require all that much money (although we'd find a way to waste it). On the higher-end, i'd see us making a meaningful difference in an area few are paying attention to.

Off the top of my head, as Supreme Emperor, i'd build a Karel Doorrman or Mistral for global HADR/TG capability, expand our AOR fleet, buy 2 more MCDV replacements and base them in CFB Jamrock (TM) with a Herc or 2, get some riverine CB90s for the RCN and Army. Feel free to add to this...
We literally have the Russians on our Northern border. Our NATO buddies would be happier if we could take care of our own backyard first.

The Caribbean is a European creation. Let them take care of it.
 
We literally have the Russians on our Northern border. Our NATO buddies would be happier if we could take care of our own backyard first.

The Caribbean is a European creation. Let them take care of it.
Scotia Group disagrees with your assessment:

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We have interests in both regions, why not both?
 
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