Canada and the World

[kEiThZ]

It is way more interesting than the headline itself. We are not returning to the old post-war order, it is not possible if America's closest friends and allies now have a de facto Gaullist worldview as it relates to their trust in Washington, which is an entirely different conceptual structure from the post-war order and will persist and underpin national security planning for all Allied nations moving forward.

I am not at all confident that Europe and Canada and Japan and South Korea have learned anything from Trump 2.0. Just look at the ambivalence on Ukraine. Still. Even in Canada, we're trumpeting aid package of a few hundred million, when we should be providing that monthly to Ukraine, if we're serious.

If we're being honest, we would have redirected some CIDA funding to Ukraine to ensure they don't fall behind. And we would have done this because we recognize this to be a core Canadian interest. And yet, look at where we're at.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Dear mods, can we get a facepalm emoji as one of the options in the reaction menu so that we can properly react to @EBT posts?

#FacepalmEmoji - Request Now

Want more NEW EMOJIS? Tap here to request them now!

www.emojirequest.com

 

[PinkLucy]

Dear mods, can we get a facepalm emoji as one of the options in the reaction menu so that we can properly react to @EBT posts?

You can always use the ignore function

 

[Full Metal Junkie]

You can always use the ignore function

That's just mean. I wouldn't ignore @EBT like everyone else has. I wouldn't want him to feel like he's posting into the void where no one is listening. But I also would like to politely let him know exactly how his posts make me feel.

On a more serious note, I actually think that the facepalm emoji is the single most valuable enhancement you can make to the current forum experience:
News from Trump administration? - facepalm
Doug Ford holds another presser? - facepalm
Concord submits a building proposal? - facepalm
Photo update from the newest and the greyest grey spandrel tower? - facepalm
A wild NIMBY enters the forum thread? - facepalm

Before you know it, facepalm will be the most frequently used reaction on the forum!

 

[afransen]

That's just mean. I wouldn't ignore @EBT like everyone else has. I wouldn't want him to feel like he's posting into the void where no one is listening. But I also would like to politely let him know exactly how his posts make me feel.

On a more serious note, I actually think that the facepalm emoji is the single most valuable enhancement you can make to the current forum experience:
News from Trump administration? - facepalm
Doug Ford holds another presser? - facepalm
Concord submits a building proposal? - facepalm
Photo update from the newest and the greyest grey spandrel tower? - facepalm
A wild NIMBY enters the forum thread? - facepalm

Before you know it, facepalm will be the most frequently used reaction on the forum!

I would like a 'rolleyes' reaction too.

 

[Bojaxs]

Another good discussion on the National Security Strategy with a short (but to the point) mention of its implications to Canada

I've always believed one of the best ways for Canada to counter American domination in the Western Hemisphere is to bring about CANZUK.

Take 4 middle powers and unite them to form one larger power that would allow those countries to have more geo-political sway in the face of America, Russia, China & EU.

It still wouldn't put us on equal footing with America. But at the same time, America probably wouldn't view as as such easy prey if they knew we had backing from London.

 

[Northern Light]

There are multiple threads where this could go, but I'll plonk it here.

Ontario formally spearheading a bid to get the Defence, Security and Resilience bank to locate its HQ in Toronto.

Ontario Newsroom

news.ontario.ca

 

[kEiThZ]

There are multiple threads where this could go, but I'll plonk it here.

Ontario formally spearheading a bid to get the Defence, Security and Resilience bank to locate its HQ in Toronto.

Ontario Newsroom

news.ontario.ca

There's some stiff competition. Inside and outside Canada. And there's some contention on participation. Germany and the UK have already said they won't back the bank. I think Canada is a long shot. We don't spend enough on defence. We are unlikely to contribute significant seed money either. Most of the funding is meant for European projects too. But maybe the rest of Europe will be generous with us. But we do have a Canadian on the board (Rick Hillier). So who knows....


About the institution:

Who We Are | Meet Our Leadership — DSR Bank

Explore the profiles of our expert leadership team at DSR Bank, including seasoned professionals in defense, finance, and strategy.

www.dsrb.org

 

[a2z]

There's some stiff competition. Inside and outside Canada. And there's some contention on participation. Germany and the UK have already said they won't back the bank. I think Canada is a long shot. We don't spend enough on defence. We are unlikely to contribute significant seed money either. Most of the funding is meant for European projects too. But maybe the rest of Europe will be generous with us. But we do have a Canadian on the board (Rick Hillier). So who knows....


About the institution:

Who We Are | Meet Our Leadership — DSR Bank

Explore the profiles of our expert leadership team at DSR Bank, including seasoned professionals in defense, finance, and strategy.

www.dsrb.org

(Rob Murray, the CEO of the DSR Bank, quoted in March): "He believes the best location for the DSR Bank is a financial hub such as London, Frankfurt or Paris. The US should be invited to be a shareholder as it has the largest defence industrial base, but basing the bank in the US would be a “tough sell for Europe”, he said."

Who else beyond Paris would remain as a preferable (and still interested) European host to Toronto (assuming it wins out over Ottawa/Halifax/Vancouver/Montreal, which I would assume should be a given?); I'd like to believe Toronto would stand a better chance against an Amsterdam/Brussels/Madrid (the latter two were recently beaten by Frankfurt in the race to host the EU anti-money laundering authority)

And without UK or Germany (even if their FIs seem to have championed this early on), which other European nations would step up to the plate for the bank to become reality in the first place? The Scandinavian nations have to really punch above their weight?

+++

I also just learned that BDC previously restricted the (many Canadian) VC funds that it is a Limited Partner in from investing in defense-related startups, and only now they are willing to "alleviate" such restrictions.

Though I am a bit skeptical this will translate to much, especially if the "enhanced due diligence" they are asking of these funds happens to be overly bureaucratic that they cannot commit capital in a timely manner relative to a competing US fund.
Plus, at least to my knowledge, there aren't really any notable deeptech VCs in Canada. The generalist funds I imagine will be hesitant, unless other LPs really push them into making an investment.

But BDC did announce today that they are also committing $500M into VC investments as part of their new Defence Platform, including "a deep-tech, dual-use focused StrongNorth Fund".
Hopefully it doesn't end up as disastrous as the current state of the NATO Innovation Fund (I'm sure BDC will try their best!)