By David Dunlop, 18 August 2023
As most people know, MP Bill Blair has just been given the Minister of National Defence Portfolio from PM Trudeau. Peter MacKay, a former Conservative Minister of National Defence (MND) has given Mr. Blair some sage advice as to how to proceed with his new job in an opinion piece published in the National Post earlier this week. The piece is entitled "The urgent need to fix Canada's military — and how to do it." It includes some good advice, including depoliticizing defence procurement, fixing the procurement process, enhancing communication among the agencies involved in procurement, determining what Canada needs most to be able to contribute to international obligations, work on Canada's strengths in the tech sector (for example), and so on. An interesting read! See https://nationalpost.com/opinion/the-urgent-need-to-fix-canadas-military-and-how-to-do-it
3 thoughts on “Advice from a Former MND to the New MND”
It really doesn’t matter what Peter MacKay says, Bill Blair is certainly not going to listen to another party. Bill Blair is probably the worst person to be placed as the MND, he’s really accomplished nothing meaningful as a minister and was a disaster as Toronto’s Police Chief. He was simply put there as a caretaker and more than a hatchet person when the cuts come to defence.
Hello Retired RCN. Let’s just give Bill Blair a chance to ‘choke’ himself. You may be right, however he may surprise all of us. If not, put somebody in there from off the street. Peter MacKay was effective as MND….what about him? Sorry, that makes too much sense. My bad! Have A Great Navy Day! Cheers!
Good morning David,
While I would agree that Peter MacKay was a better MND than some of the non-entities who have filled the role, I think that it is unclear how good he really was. Remember, he helped bring us the flawed NSS.
Ubique.
Les