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Canada has enjoyed a lengthy peace dividend but that time is over. The Liberal government should wake up, listen and act

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OTTAWA Gen. Wayne Eyre must feel like Cassandra, the King of Troys daughter, who was granted the gift of prophecy but struck by the curse that no one would believe her predictions.

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The chief of the defence staff appeared at the public safety and national security committee on Parliament Hill last Thursday and warned in the starkest terms possible that dark forces are gathering in a chaotic and dangerous world and that Canadas geographic isolation is no longer a viable defence against them. Russia and China already consider themselves to be at war with the West, he said. They are interested, not just in regime survival, but in regime expansion.

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Many of our allies and partners are clear-eyed about the threat to our future. We must be too. The stakes are high, he warned.

But for all the Liberal governments rhetoric about defending the rules-based order, there are few signs that the prime minister, his cabinet or his senior advisers are seized by the sense that the lights may go out in democracies around the world.

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Eyre was frank that Canada is not ready for this struggle, despite its efforts at reconstitution, and is currently short about 10,000 Forces personnel.

He was asked if it is important to increase military spending to two per cent of GDP, from the current 1.4 per cent. Its not my position to talk about defence spending, but the military we have today is not the military we need for the threats occurring in the future, he said.

Previously, Eyre has said that Canadas defence industry needs to be on a wartime footing to increase the weapons and ammunition available.

But in the seven months since Russia invaded Ukraine, there has been no appreciable uptick in military activity. We have not, for example, seen domestic manufacturers of ammunition awarded big, multi-year contracts to ensure a steady supply of munitions.

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According to retired Lt.-Gen Andrew Leslie, a former Liberal MP, the Department of National Defence handed back $3 billion in the 2021-22 fiscal year that it was unable to spend on new capital equipment. That would take the total handed back in lapsed, reprofiled and unallocated funds to $15 billion since this government came to power, Leslie said.

The blame can be laid squarely at the governments Byzantine spending rules 150 approval steps for most gear and the caution of bureaucrats warned for years not to overspend.

That is little short of negligent when inflation is running so high.

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The 2022 budget suggests that defence spending will reach $41 billion in 2026/27, from $18.6 billion a decade earlier. Yet, the budget also indicates GDP will grow to $3.1 trillion within five years, meaning defence spending as a proportion of the economy will remain static (and thats if you classify the Communications Security Establishment, the Canadian Coast Guard and Veterans Affairs as military spending, which the government does).

The risible state of Canadas ability to defend itself was highlighted this weekend by a request from Ukraine for its allies to supply air defence systems to protect against Russias indiscriminate missile attacks. One source said the call was made to Canada by Ukrainian officials who did not know that this country has no air defence systems of any kind.

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Leslie tweeted recently that the political and public service leadership at National Defence has failed Canada by not providing the Forces the resources it needs to deter or protect its citizens from hostile powers.

If Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister of Finance Freeland wanted to solve this, they would pay a lot more personal attention and get it done, he said in an interview.

He said his experience as a general involved in the Afghanistan conflict under three prime ministers - Jean Chrtien, Paul Martin and Stephen Harper suggested that when there is support at the highest levels, the military can be upgraded fairly quickly.

Far from being clear-eyed, the governments response appears to have been clouded by wishful thinking that the current crisis in Ukraine is an aberration.

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Leslie said the Liberals feel pretty guilty that they didnt make the cultural changes needed to address sexual misconduct for six years.

The Armed Forces are expected to be ready to defend the nation and this is the most urgent hour, except perhaps the years just before the Second World War. And yet DND has been found to be less than ready. he said. The price of not being ready, ironically, is that the Forces are more likely to be involved in war.

Canada has enjoyed a lengthy peace dividend but that time is over. This countrys most senior soldier has told its political leaders in a public forum that Russia and China want to remake the world order to suit their own ends, and are prepared to use all elements of national power, including armed conflict. The Liberal government should wake up, listen and act.

Email: jivison@postmedia.com | Twitter: IvisonJ

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Original post:
John Ivison: Our enemies are on war footing, Trudeau Liberals should be too - National Post