Canada and the World

[Admiral Beez]

Looks like the Conservatives are going to neglect the military as much as the Liberals.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poilievre-dumpster-fire-economy-nato-1.7261981

In 2014 then PM Harper cut the defence budget to its all time low of 0.9% of GDP. To his credit Trudeau has increased this since then by over 30%, but still no where near where we need to be.

 

[kEiThZ]

Comes just as the new CDS says we have 5 years to prepare. And given the briefs we get, she's not exaggerating.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/new-chief-of-defence-staff-change-in-command-ceremony-1.7266382

 

[Admiral Beez]

Comes just as the new CDS says we have 5 years to prepare. And given the briefs we get, she's not exaggerating.

In five years the CF-18s (intro 1982), CP-140 Aurora (intro 1980), Halifax class (laid down 1987), and pretty much anything pricey in the CAF will be over forty years old. IMO, it’s too late to prepare - the foundations are rotten. We need instead a complete strategic review of what the CAF does and can do. Do we need an Army, for example. Can we fulfill our NATO and NORAD commitments with just the RCAF and RCN and a small home guard?

 

[kEiThZ]

In five years the CF-18s (intro 1982), CP-140 Aurora (intro 1980), Halifax class (laid down 1987), and pretty much anything pricey in the CAF will be over forty years old. IMO, it’s too late to prepare - the foundations are rotten. We need instead a complete strategic review of what the CAF does and can do. Do we need an Army, for example. Can we fulfill our NATO and NORAD commitments with just the RCAF and RCN and a small home guard?

We go to war with the army (military) we have.

Harper really screwed us with the few billion in budget cuts when recapitalization was needed. Chretien didn't help. But at least they had a ton of stock they could burn through. Harper's cuts came exactly as all the 80s and 90s era stocks needed to be recapitalized.

Sure Trudeau hasn't done enough. And has had to be brought around kicking and screaming. But he's done a lot more than Harper and more than I would have expected.

The more I look at at the politics of the past, the more angry I get. Absolutely screwed over future generations by putting off everything. Military recapitalization is no different than infrastructure, housing, healthcare, etc.