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Justin Trudeau hints at boosting Canada’s military spending

Justin Trudeau hints at boosting Canada’s military spending

Canada says it will look at increasing its defence spending and tacked on 10 more Russian names to an ever growing sanctions list.

By Tonda MacCharles
Ottawa Bureau
Mon., March 7, 2022

Riga, LATVIA—On the 13th day of the brutal Russian bid to claim Ukraine as its own, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is showing up at the Latvian battle group led by Canadian soldiers, waving the Maple Leaf and a vague hint at more money for the military.

Canada has been waving the NATO flag for nearly seven years in Latvia as a bulwark against Russia’s further incursions in Eastern Europe.

Canada stepped up to lead one of NATO’s four battle groups in 2015 — part of the defensive alliance’s display of strength and solidarity with weaker member states after Russia invaded Ukraine and seized the Crimean peninsula in 2014. Trudeau arrived in the Latvian capital late Monday after meetings in the U.K. with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

Earlier Monday, faced with a seemingly unstoppable war in Ukraine, Trudeau said he will look at increasing Canada’s defence spending. Given world events, he said there are “certainly reflections to have.”

And Canada tacked on 10 more Russian names to an ever-growing sanctions list.

The latest round of sanctions includes names Trudeau said were identified by jailed Russian opposition leader and Putin nemesis Alexei Navalny.

However, on a day when Trudeau cited the new sanctions, and Johnson touted new measures meant to expose Russian property owners in his country, Rutte admitted sanctions are not working.

Yet they all called for more concerted international efforts over the long haul, including more economic measures and more humanitarian aid, with Johnson and Rutte divided over how quickly countries need to get off Russian oil and gas.

The 10 latest names on Canada’s target list do not include Roman Abramovich — a Russian billionaire Navalny has been flagging to Canada since at least 2017. Canada appears to have sanctioned about 20 of the 35 names on Navalny’s list.

The Conservative opposition says the Liberal government is not yet exerting maximum pressure on Putin, and should do more to bolster Canadian Forces, including by finally approving the purchase of fighter jets.

Foreign affairs critic Michael Chong said in an interview that Ottawa must still sanction “additional oligarchs close to President Putin who have significant assets in Canada.”

Abramovich owns more than a quarter of the public shares in steelmaking giant Evraz, which has operations in Alberta and Saskatchewan and has supplied most of the steel for the government-owned Trans Mountain pipeline project.

Evraz’s board of directors also includes two more Russians the U.S. government identified as “oligarchs” in 2019 — Aleksandr Abramov and Aleksandr Frolov — and its Canadian operations have received significant support from the federal government.

That includes at least $27 million in emergency wage subsidies during the pandemic, as well as $7 million through a fund meant to help heavy-polluters reduce emissions that cause climate change, according to the company’s most recent annual report.

In addition to upping defence spending, the Conservatives want NORAD’s early warning system upgraded, naval shipbuilding ramped up and Arctic security bolstered.

In London, Johnson sat down with Trudeau and Rutte at the Northolt airbase. Their morning meetings had a rushed feel, with Johnson starting to usher press out before Trudeau spoke. His office said later that the British PM couldn’t squeeze the full meeting in at 10 Downing Street because Johnson’s “diary” was so busy that day. The three leaders held an afternoon news conference at 10 Downing.

But before that Trudeau met with the Queen, saying she was “insightful” and they had a “useful, for me anyway, conversation about global affairs.”

Trudeau meets with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Tuesday in Latvia.

The prime minister will also meet with three Baltic leaders, the prime ministers of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, in the Latvian capital of Riga.

The Liberals announced they would increase the 500 Canadian Forces in Latvia by another 460 troops. The Canadians are leading a multinational battle group, one of four that are part of NATO’s deployments in the region.

Another 3,400 Canadians could be deployed to the region in the months to come, on standby for NATO orders.

But Canada’s shipments of lethal aid to Ukraine were slow to come in the view of the Conservatives, and the Ukrainian Canadian community.

And suddenly Western allies are eyeing each other’s defence commitments.

At the Downing Street news conference, Rutte noted the Netherlands will increase its defence budget to close to two per cent of GDP. Germany has led the G7, and doubled its defence budget in the face of Putin’s invasion and threats. Johnson said the U.K. defence spending is about 2.4 per cent and declined to comment on Canada’s defence spending which is 1.4 per cent of GDP.

But Johnson didn’t hold back.

“What we can’t do, post the invasion of Ukraine is assume that we go back to a kind of status quo ante, a kind of new normalization in the way that we did after the … seizure of Crimea and the Donbas area,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to recognize that things have changed and that we need a new focus on security and I think that that is kind of increasingly understood by everybody.”

Trudeau stood by his British and Dutch counterparts and pledged Canada would do more.

He defended his government’s record, saying Ottawa is gradually increasing spending over the next decade by 70 per cent. Then Trudeau admitted more might be necessary.

“We also recognize that context is changing rapidly around the world and we need to make sure that women and men have certainty and our forces have all the equipment necessary to be able to stand strongly as we always have. As members of NATO. We will continue to look at what more we can do.”

The three leaders — Johnson, a conservative and Trudeau and Rutte, progressive liberals — in a joint statement said they “will continue to impose severe costs on Russia.”

Arriving for the news conference from Windsor Castle, Trudeau had to detour to enter Downing Street as loud so-called Freedom Convoy protesters bellowed from outside the gate. They carried signs marked “Tuck Frudeau” and “Free Tamara” (Lich).

Protester Jeff Wyatt who said he has no Canadian ties told the Star he came to stand up for Lich and others who were leading a “peaceful protest” worldwide against government “lies” about COVID-19 and what he called Trudeau’s “tyranny.”

Elsewhere in London, outside the Russian embassy, other protesters and passersby reflected on what they said was real tyranny — the Russian attack on Ukraine. “I think we should be as tough as possible to get this stopped, as tough as possible,” said protester Clive Martinez.
 
Perhaps control of DND should be turned over to the senate defense committee?
that thought has some merit although much of the senate is beholden to Trudeau for their paychecks it would still bridge much of the bipartisan gap if they were the ones actually running the place, including the defense minister selected by them and appointed to cabinet with a vote on all defense related subjects.
 
So, what has the CAF gotten under the current govt?

  • delayed fighters etc
  • Pot is legal!
  • beards!
  • new dress regs
  • BOOTFORGEN!!!!!

Not really…stellar. So what files have moved are the “little value to combat/operational capability” ones…

It’s a sad state of affairs we’re in. But it’s not like all previous governments were hitting home runs on this subj before the current one either…

Defence doesn’t matter much to Canadians for some decades now, and that is something politicians are fully aware of that.
C20 Medium calibre sniper system, C21 multi calibre sniper system, C19 Rifle for the rangers, sole source additional LAVS and ACSV, replacement pistol finally selected, new medium shelter system, landing craft for use with the new AORs.

Just because they don't dot page 1 of the Toronto Star, doesn't mean nothing is happening
 
Curious, what numbers of those are with F Ech units now I wonder?

And, in numbers to be tactically relevant and supported thru the life of the system?
 
C20 Medium calibre sniper system, C21 multi calibre sniper system, C19 Rifle for the rangers, sole source additional LAVS and ACSV, replacement pistol finally selected, new medium shelter system, landing craft for use with the new AORs.

Just because they don't dot page 1 of the Toronto Star, doesn't mean nothing is happening
have they ordered replacements for the materiel that has been shipped east. and speaking of that I noticed the big photo spread covering shipping the first tank, did they expedite the remaining three or are they being loaded onto some freighter for delivery sometime in June
 
have they ordered replacements for the materiel that has been shipped east. and speaking of that I noticed the big photo spread covering shipping the first tank, did they expedite the remaining three or are they being loaded onto some freighter for delivery sometime in June
There are definitely plans in the works to deal with the issue of replacement of what was sent, nothing public yet though, though the minister has hinted after the 24th we may hear something.
 
Curious, what numbers of those are with F Ech units now I wonder?

And, in numbers to be tactically relevant and supported thru the life of the system?
C21

C20 roughly the same for Sniper dets and SoF only so we do not need alot.

Shelter system - over 1400 systems

 
have they ordered replacements for the materiel that has been shipped east. and speaking of that I noticed the big photo spread covering shipping the first tank, did they expedite the remaining three or are they being loaded onto some freighter for delivery sometime in June
the 4 tanks are delivered according to MND twitter
 
It's just precious how people can find time to trouble themselves to write news articles about 4 tanks, when the main event is a war which consumes vehicles by several orders of magnitude more. Canada is such a small, small country.
 
It's just precious how people can find time to trouble themselves to write news articles about 4 tanks, when the main event is a war which consumes vehicles by several orders of magnitude more. Canada is such a small, small country.
Well, writers from a country will write about what their country is contributing. Even if most Canadians may not care about the war’s day-to-day happenings, they obviously do care whether we send stuff there.

The MSM isn’t generally in the business of writing things that they don’t think people will read.
 
C21

C20 roughly the same for Sniper dets and SoF only so we do not need alot.

Shelter system - over 1400 systems


How many of these are in service now? Any?

Maybe I’m cynical, but these are routine and while necessary, it comes across as similar to me announcing a purchase of new underwear if my wife asks me about our mutual fund growth over the last quarter. Necessary but…not something expected to impress people.

I had to chuckle at the part in the pic. The obsession with anything HQ lives on!! 🙂

462FC630-B63F-4E6E-9A55-0A203D30B1E9.jpeg
 
Leslie, McKay, Collenette on procurement. Leslie very critical of his previous employer.


Thanks for posting that. I have to say that after the beasting that Leslie gave "the current government" I was starting to feel sorry for them. I also developed a new appreciation for David Collenette. It was a pleasure to listen to three "adults".

Please let there be somebody listening.
 
Leslie, McKay, Collenette on procurement. Leslie very critical of his previous employer.

Leslie, the guy who once told us the pistol replacement was immenent with a machine pistol, circa 2009. :rolleyes:

C20 Medium calibre sniper system, C21 multi calibre sniper system, C19 Rifle for the rangers, sole source additional LAVS and ACSV, replacement pistol finally selected, new medium shelter system, landing craft for use with the new AORs.

Just because they don't dot page 1 of the Toronto Star, doesn't mean nothing is happening
Asterix, AOPS delivery, JSS continuation, ESSM2, Nanisivik (finally)

The big procurement machine once it gets rolling, generally keeps rolling.
 
^^
Think of where the Navy/CCG/DFO fleets could have been if we kept St John Shipbuilding and used it as a base to implement and expand the NSP. I'd like to know who dropped the ball on this, the RCN, DND, TB, PMO? All of Canada?
 
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