Justin Trudeau hints at boosting Canada’s military spending

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[YZT580]

Show our smug political class just how meaningless and limited our "soft power" really is by excluding us from just about everything else that isn't a signed treaty.

Doesn't show them anything. As the song says, There is none so blind as he who will not see.

 

[rmc_wannabe]

Traditions are answers to questions we have forgotten.

Part of tradition should be to maintain a functional military...

Ah yes, but Canadian tradition is to let everything rust out and then panic at the start of the next war....

 

[McG]

Honest question: What will NATO do? Would they kick Canada out when faced with a potential hot war with Russia?

Canada likes to boast that we are a leader in the international community, that our personnel are well above average, and that we fill key roles during multinational efforts. But eventually our allies won’t accept us in these key roles if we cannot actually perform, and all the easy political capital (why govt really sends us) is gone. We could be asked to step-aside as the aFP lead in Latvia, or to not bother sending that next GOFO to whatever major command in the US, NATO, or Korea. Or we could be the nation invited only for the gate guards and a novelty food DFAC.

We have been trimming individual and collective training for over a decade. We are looking at significant usage restrictions on training fleets to avoid buying maintenance parts, so our troops will learn their jobs just before deploying and then maybe get good at the job after they are in the fight.

Our 3 year MRP with 2 year posting cycle means that some brigade commanders have never seen anything larger than a combat team getting exercises at a single time, and some battalion commanders may not have even seen that.

Our preferred operations over the past decade saw us deploy vast quantities of leadership to fill staff and instructing jobs while the majority of troops sat in Canada without adequate mentorship and training.

We pride ourselves on our skill and experience, but inadequately hone these. We cannot expect it to spontaneously appear in senior offices and NCOs. Our allies will notice. They will stop accepting us for the jobs that need this.

 

[Rifleman62]

Right on.

 

[Good2Golf]

Definitely not the then valid “punching above our weight” combat-experience forces of the 90s and 2000s…

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Definitely not the then valid “punching above our weight” combat-experience forces of the 90s and 2000s…

Built off of 30 (or more) years of hard individual/collective training…

 

[Good2Golf]

Built off of 30 (or more) years of hard individual/collective training…

Itself shaped significantly by WW2 and Korean vets!

 

[FJAG]

Itself shaped significantly by WW2 and Korean vets!

And myths which may be more impressive in the telling than the reality.

Canada can be justly proud of what achieved in building a great host in WW2. After that, notwithstanding Korea and the early NATO commitments, the slide began.

 

[lenaitch]

In the early stages of WWII, what our military was able to achieve was in spite of, not because of, the political will in Ottawa at the time.

 

[rmc_wannabe]

In the early stages of WWII any conflict, what our military was is able to achieve was is in spite of, not because of, the political will in Ottawa at the any time.

FTFY.

From Ridgeway to Panjwayi, Ottawa has been the biggest obstacle facing our military.

 

[suffolkowner]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1771544244961845590

update on NATO members meeting their commitment to 2% and 20% spending thresholds

edit just a little slow on the trigger there lol

as Mr Perry calls it the Quadrant of Shame

https://twitter.com/x/status/1772261418877759902

 

[GK .Dundas]

as Mr Perry calls it the Quadrant of Shame

https://twitter.com/x/status/1772261418877759902

And does anyone in Government, who matters care ?
I suspect that we already know the answer.
For the past 5 or 6 decades we have been almost joyfully ignoring reality.

 

[rmc_wannabe]

And does anyone in Government, who matters care ?
I suspect that we already know the answer.
For the past 5 or 6 decades we have been almost joyfully ignoring reality.

The problem is no one in NATO slapped us hard enough when Papa Trudeau pulled this stupidity in the 1970s. It emboldened successive governments to treat NATO benchmarks as a suggestion, and now we're in the fine mess we find outselves in.

Until we get a Pink Slip from NATO saying "thanks, but no thanks.." the cycle continues.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

The problem is no one in NATO slapped us hard enough when Papa Trudeau pulled this stupidity in the 1970s. It emboldened successive governments to treat NATO benchmarks as a suggestion, and now we're in the fine mess we find outselves in.

Until we get a Pink Slip from NATO saying "thanks, but no thanks.." the cycle continues.

We don't want that. They might think that some time in the wilderness will smarten our government up. In reality, they just might see how small and useless we've really been and maybe not invite us back.

 

[Navy_Pete]

For a force employment command, it has a lot of force generation and institutional functions that need another home.

Except the Navy does force generation during force employment, so that balance always causes friction with CJOC.

 

[Navy_Pete]

15% of 1.33% is 0.2% of GDP

Capital acquisitions need to double to meet the minimum standards.

Is that before or after the $800M to in service funding cuts?

We not only got turned down for hundred of millions in O&M demand we also are going to eat a cut, so it's a double whammy

 

[CountDC]

And does anyone in Government matter ?

Isn't that what you actually meant?

 

[MilEME09]

Part of the political issue I see as well is NDHQ needs start saying "No" the politicians keep committing us to things like a full brigade it Latvia, etc tell us to make it happen while trying to rebuild, reconstitute etc. We are getting pulled in every direction, not to mention domestic ops, and No one seems to be willing to say "sorry sir we can't actually meet these commitments" to the MND or cabinet.

 

[GK .Dundas]

Isn't that what you actually meant?

* Snort*

 

[MilEME09]

Leave it to America to pay for our factories to expand

https://twitter.com/x/status/1772327592768557098