Posted by There was a time in 1945 at the end of World War II when Canada’s navy was the third largest on the planet. Of course much of the Japanese and German navy lay at the bottom of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans respectively while what was left of the French navy was scuttled in Vichy-controlled Toulon to avoid capture by the Nazi’s. That was a lifetime ago and our Navy is now down to 12 ageing and outdated Halifax-class frigates and four rusting Victoria-class submarines purchased from the British in 1998 who decomissioned the 1970’s era subs following the end of the cold war. It’s not surprising that the now-defunct West Edmonton Mall tourist submarine ride has been the punchline of Canadian Navy political cartoon jokes for decades. Even SatireWire made fun of Canada’s Navy in 2002 following a news report that a Canadian warship had seized a tanker for breaching United Nations sanctions on Iraq.
But Canada and our GQ cover model Prime Minister, Trudeau Junior, have had enough and are now serious about asserting our independence from America and President Trump by announcing a major ramp up of our military forces. “Ottawa plans major boost for the military… $62.3 billion” screams the headlines.
We then jump to the fine print. First, while the headline number seems huge, it is over two decades. Even the the C$13.9bn increase proposed for the next decade is mostly back-loaded with very little happening before the next federal election in 2019. In other words, the 15 new warships and 88 new fighter jets are just pie-in-the-sky talk with no real money to back it up and no guarantee that the Liberal government, even if they are re-elected in two years time, will honour this long-term commitment. It’s not surprising then that the government can make the asinine statement that a huge increase in military spending will not impact on the budget deficit. It’s true because there is no actual huge increase in military spending.
Somehow, this is being spun in the National Post as being “Defiant anti-Trump message in Freeland’s speech is clear – and radical“. Prior to the new defence budget being release, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland speech in Parliament highlighted that, “To rely solely on the U.S. security umbrella would make us a client state. And although we have an incredibly good relationship with our American friends and neighbours, such a dependence would not be in Canada’s interest… To put it plainly: Canadian diplomacy and development sometimes require the backing of hard power.” Seriously? This is what is viewed as a defiant snub to Trump and American policy? If anything, this is clear capitulation to President Trump’s continued pressure on NATO allies to start pulling their own weight in the group – something Canada has been woefully bad at doing. To be fair, most members in NATO except the USA are pretty much slacking with only a few, notably the UK, even meeting their minimum commitment. Nonetheless, if I were Trump, I’d probably tweet about how my push to make our allies carry their own weight was working. Just please don’t use the word covfefe when you do make that tweet though Mr. President.
So Canada has made an empty promise to eventually increase military spending (just not anytime soon) which, even if it all comes true (it probably won’t), would only bring Canadian military spending to 1.4% at its peak in 20 years time which is still far short of the 2% guideline that NATO has set. Despite the hollowness of this commitment, in left-wing, socialist, uber politically correct, eco-hippie Canada, even this limited pronouncement is seen as “not a document that will appeal to the herbivore wing of the Liberal party”. The Huffington Post laments, “Where’s The Left’s Response To Liberals’ Military Spending Increase?” Did they ever stop to think that maybe there is no response because there is no real increase in military spending?
One has to remember that the Great White North is now heavily populated by liberals and beatniks who protest with idiotic signs like the one above. The last time I checked, NORAD stands for North American Aerospace Defense Command which was formed to protect the North (especially the Arctic) from Russian incursions. Since we have a pretty pathetic Air Force and Navy, without the American presence in NORAD (they do have a physical stake as well due to Alaska), Russian subs and bombers would be free to roam all around our arctic and northern territories and we wouldn’t even know about it let alone be capable of doing anything about it. Heck, even the American’s dispute our claim and are asserting freedom of navigation rights through the NorthWest Passage. So when some idiot says leaving NORAD would “bring our troops home”, does she mean flying them back from Iqaluit to Toronto? Mind you, these are the same people who write in the Huffington Post that, “Canada’s new defence policy includes a significant increase in lethal fighter jets and secretive special forces…” Really? I hope so because non-lethal fighter jets (especially given they are really expensive) are pretty much of no use to anyone and a waste of money. Whatever these people are smoking, they should make a fortune after Trudeau Junior legalises marijuana because it’s really potent.