By David Dunlop, 9 January 2023
A few months ago, the new French Ambassador to Canada, Michel Miraillet, made some comments that are interesting -- and frank (and which he said represented his own opinion). He suggested that "Caught up in navel-gazing and living under the protective shield of the United States, Canada has allowed its military presence worldwide to wither over the last decade or so." According to him, Canada has become complacent and relies too heavily on the United States for defence. It's an interesting comment to consider. Has Canada allowed its military presence worldwide to wither? An article by Tom Blackwell for the National Post summarizes the Ambassador's comments.
https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/french-ambassador-on-canadas-military
9 thoughts on “Is Canada Navel-Gazing and Neglecting the Military?”
Why this attention to a 14 Oct 22 National Post article on the same day that we announce the CF-35 purchase?
Are we navel gazing or thinking before we spend huge sums?
Hello Les. It was just an article that I had not seen before and thought forum members might want to comment, that’s all. It had nothing to do with timing of the F 35 announcement. Although I will say that the RCAF is much happier today than they were yesterday. It took far too long to get to this point and should have happened 10 years ago. Canada would have had its F 35 fleet in total by now. The Conservatives had already started this process 16 years ago. What a waste of time and money!!
Unfortunately I do have to agree with the statement we have seen governments kick the can down the road over naval / army / air force procurement not to mention the reduction in the main fleet with the Iroquois being scrapped.
There is some light hearted attempt at looking good with the new AOPVs however these are not vessels you would want to be in if things got serious.
The continual delays and debates regarding the CSC and future submarine programs have meant both services have suffered substantially and now were looking at boats that will be close to 50 years old when they retire and frigates that are over 40 years old.
We rely too much on our allies to protect us only recently the Canadian gov asked the UK Gov to assist in Arctic operations with a SSN https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/britain-uk-canada-arctic-defence-submarines-russia-china-1.6187347
While it is nice to have allies it really doesn’t help when they are constantly looking and laughing at you. Then when time comes for a real interaction you get put on the bench so to speak because your equipment is dated or obsolete.
This also means that forces morale suffers greatly and affects recruitment and retention in the longer term, most Canadians & Canadian veterans I have spoken to find our armed forces a joke.
Could not agree with you more Blair! When the newly minted French Ambassador to Canada starts telling us that Canada is basically a joke, it really makes one want to crawl into a hole somewhere. I have been saying for years what our European and NATO partners have been whispering for decades. It is past time for Canada to “put up or shut up” or get out of the way!
Hello Blair. You said in your statement that “recently the Canadian government had asked the UK Gov to assist in Arctic operations with an SSN”. Nowhere in that article does it say that the Canadian government had asked the UK Gov to assist Canada in Arctic Operations with an SSN for patrols. This is an article from Murray Brewster from CBC who said others, including Britains’ General Sir Nick Carter have offered to assist Canada with our Sovereignty efforts. Although the U.K. has been included in Arctic Exercises over the years including British SSNs, Canada will never cede our own sovereignty to another nation including our allies like the U.K. If it did, Canada would then be looked at from other state actors as a “protectorate” state rather than a “sovereign” country. Other than that, I agree on much of what you have said. Cheers!
Hello,
Respectfully, and as much as it hurts to recognize it, we are already a “protectorate” or “vassal” state, particularly in terms of security and foreign policy. Whatever our senior southern partner says, goes.
That senior partner now shows signs of advanced social, cultural, political and economic degradation and possible collapse in the near term. We should consider implications of those things to our future sovereignty and well-being.
Regards.
Hello Curious Civilian. If we already are a “Protectorate” as you believe, then Canada might just as well turn in the keys to the house and hand them over to the US. I for one (and others) would not like to see that. Canada has at least to be seen as paying lip-service to our own sovereign territories. It is now past time for Canada to stand up for itself and start looking after its own backyard and not have our next door neighbour mow our lawn for us. The implications of that kind of help are enormous whether that help come from our southern friends or our NATO allies, no matter what the cost may be!
Hi David,
I completely agree about looking after our own backyard. My contension is that we build the capability to do that on our own. For now the discussion has focused on the amount we pay to purchase equipment, primarily from the US. That does not make us sovereign. This is illustrated by the recent announcement of Canada purchasing air defense systems for Ukraine when leaving our own forces’ requirement for the same system unmet. Same equipment, same vendor, different requirements from our senior partner.
Almost all other NATO partners/allies have their own defense industries, built as an extension of their core industrial base. We are an exception in that our defense is decoupled from our limited industrial base.
Until we build up our industrial base and manufacturing capability, we will never have an independent defense industry and therefore won’t have true sovereignty. We can’t even manufacture the necesaary ammunition – a failing of most other NATO partners as well.
One of the main lessons of our conflict over the Ukraine is that we forgot that modern war is an industrial war. The expenditure of artillery munitions and missiles is measured in the millions of tons of steel, advanced materials and chemicals. Without mass advanced industry, there’s no defense and no sovereignty.
Best regards!
Hello again Curious Civilian. No, you are right. Buying an AAW Ground-Based missile system from the US to give to Ukraine to aid in their fight against Russia is both good and bad for Canada. Since we don’t even have a Ground-Based AAW defence system capability for our own military yet…., it doesn’t make any sense at all. However maybe, just maybe, we are doing this to see how effective this system will perform in the field before we buy it for our own Army in the future. We do need however, to build up our own civilian AAW defensive capabilities soon to rely less on our partners to the south. Cheers!