Moderator, 4 March 2022
There have been a number of recent articles discussing what Canada could contribute to assist Ukraine and to the defence of the West in general. The government has made announcements that Canada will help Ukraine. But is Canada able to contribute? As a sample of how analysts reply to this question, see an article by CNR Editorial Board member Hugh Segal, published by the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, which notes that Canada is far down the list in terms of military capabilities among NATO allies. The budget is smaller per capita, the number of military personnel is smaller and, as Segal says, Canada is in the category of ‘big hat, no cattle.’ Read the article, “Canada’s Capacity to Engage: Tough Questions to Ask and Hard Answers to Address” at https://www.cgai.ca/canadas_capacity_to_engage_tough_questions_to_ask_and_hard_answers_to_address
One thought on “Will Defence Become a Higher Priority?”
I have read Hugh Segal’s CGAI commentary with great interest. Mr. Segal’s qualifications to comment on Canada’s capacity to engage defensively are much greater than most, and what he says about our readiness to respond to crises now or in the future ring true. If I read him correctly, in order to correct our defence policy “short-comings”, would be first to completely re-vamp our 2017 Strong, Secure, Engaged policy. In order to do this, Canada must first ‘bite the bullet’ and immediately increase our defence budget to at least (if not more than) 2% of GDP as was required by NATO in 2015, and as Germany has recently done (Perhaps between 2.1-2.5 %). Canada could then be able to increase our military reg force strength to 100,000 personnel and reserves to at least 60,000 as Hugh Segal has identified. It is embarrassing to see that NATO countries like Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are pulling more of their weight with over 2% of their GDP going to defence where Canada is well down the list within NATO. Mr. Segal is correct that the government has not kept its eyes on the road with defence spending. Just think of what Canada could achieve with at least a 2% of GDP increase in defence spending. A much more robust military, with the ability to acquire a fleet of 8-10 new submarines (no matter what propulsion plant is used); quickly updating our NORAD system with the US; give our Army and Air Force the updated equipment they desperately need to effectively do their jobs; acquire a Strategic Sealift Capability fleet; acquire a fleet of High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) drones for ISR of our coasts and high Arctic waters and ensure that our future CSC Frigates have the capabilities to effectively defend our sovereignty both at home and abroad. All of this would be possible with a defence budget increase to at least 2% of GDP with no negative effects on Canada’s economy or social programs. I applaud Hugh Seagal’s comments and certainly hope that our government takes a page out of Germany’s recent initiatives and at least has some vision for our future defence policies.