The Trudeau government should be commended for backing the airstrikes on Houthi rebels who are attacking ships in the Red Sea.
But the admission that Canada did not take on an operational role shows how impotent our military has become: we are limited to sending moral support and maple syrup.
Justin Trudeau was clearly rattled when a reporter asked him why Canada did not contribute more.
Canada’s top military commander is headed for the exit.
Gen. Wayne Eyre, chief of the defence staff, has confirmed he plans to retire this summer, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a media statement Friday.
He has been in the job since February 2021, when he replaced the now-retired admiral Art McDonald as CDS. McDonald stepped aside after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced — claims that military police later decided not to pursue.
He could almost turn out the lights.
Canada’s defence chief received legal advice from the Office of the Judge Advocate General (JAG) in 2021 that there was no evidence supporting a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for all members and that imposing one would be “fraught with legal risk,” an internal document obtained by The Epoch Times shows.
The document, issued on Feb. 2, 2021, by the JAG’s office, the military’s legal department, also cites guidelines by a physicians’ legal defence organization that warns against obtaining consent to administer vaccines under “compulsion” by an employer or others.
The air force is worried about keeping the aging weapons systems aboard its CH-148 Cyclones operational into the future, according to leaked documents obtained by CBC News.
It’s an understatement to say that the $5.8 billion maritime helicopters project is a work-in-progress for the Department of National Defence (DND) and the aircraft’s U.S. manufacturer, Sikorsky.
It will soon be 20 years since a previous Liberal government ordered the aircraft to replace its fleet of CH-128 Sea Kings, 1960s-era workhorses which saw decades of service flying off the decks of Canadian warships.
The Canadian Military Journal is the official peer-reviewed academic journal of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Published quarterly since 2000, it has the stated mission “to enhance the continuing development of the profession of arms in Canada.” Its inaugural issue discussed the expansion of NATO. In 2005, it devoted an entire issue to Arctic sovereignty. As recently as 2020, it was considering the implications of filling the RCAF with unmanned drones.
It’s no wonder the CAF faces a recruiting problem. They deliberately poisoned the well.
In April 2023, then-Defence Minister Anita Anand claimed a $400 million National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System provided by Canada was “en route” to Ukraine. But it wasn’t, and still isn’t. So if you’re concerned about instability abroad, our broken government, and the ominous juxtaposition of the two, it’s worth pondering how such a bizarre thing could occur.
Cripes … I recall senior officers denying that their woke assault on the CAF had anything to do with the recruitment crisis.
This is what the typical issue of the Canadian Military Journal looks like today.
Canada is racist, white people are evil, the military is full of white supremacy, supporting families is patriarchy…
Our military is entirely compromised pic.twitter.com/9ywvfT01sa
— Cosmin Dzsurdzsa 🇷🇴 (@cosminDZS) January 8, 2024
Three retired Canadian defence leaders say chief of defence staff Gen. Wayne Eyre making the right move in sharing public statements about the challenges facing the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) around personnel shortages, aging equipment and operational readiness.
This level of candor is not usually seen among military leaders when it comes to sharing issues with the CAF, but retired Royal Canadian Air Force commander and former chief of defence staff Gen. Tom Lawson sees it as a positive.
It’s Bob Auchterlonie’s job to be ready for the next crisis, whether that’s a wildfire, a flood, a hurricane or war on another continent.
As the commander of the Canadian Joint Operations Command, the vice admiral has had an extraordinary year that included co-ordinating airlifts of Canadians from Sudan and Israel, planning possible evacuations from Lebanon and Haiti, and managing the growing demands for help at home.
Looking ahead to 2024, Auchterlonie said he thinks the pressure will continue to mount, and Canadians are “overly comfortable” about their safety as the world changes.
Even with personnel shortages, Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee is “confident” in the Royal Canadian Navy’s ability to meet its commitments.
“The biggest challenge we face right now is personnel. So, we’re about 20 per cent short overall in the Navy,” the Navy’s commander said in an interview with The West Block host Mercedes Stephenson.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has found another means of keeping the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) on oxygen. He said that because Canada and other NATO countries have shipped so much military aid to Ukraine in their fight against Russia that “everyone is in big trouble” when it comes to defence readiness.
“We have stayed strong at a time where bigger countries and countries that play by different rules have tried really hard to impact us. And we’re continuing to defend ourselves in all the right ways,” Trudeau told Global News.
Earlier this year, Gen. Wayne Eyre, the Chief of the Defence Staff, told the media that about one in 10 positions in the Canadian Armed Forces sits empty, with potential consequences for readiness. And last month, taking his boss’s lead, Vice-Adm. Angus Topshee, the Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, went public about the navy’s “critical state” in a remarkable and blunt YouTube message on the RCN’s official account.
A top U.S. military officer has warned that the delivery of F-35 aircraft ordered by Canada and other allies could be delayed because of ongoing technical problems.
If that happens, depending on the length of the delay, Canadian taxpayers could have to spend between $400 million and $700 million extra for the stealth fighters.
h/t Mauser
Active-duty military personnel in Nova Scotia are experiencing an “epidemic” of homelessness and housing vulnerability while others are turning down postings in the province because housing is either unaffordable or unavailable, provincial MLAs heard Tuesday.
Several groups that provide community-level supports and services to members of the Canadian Armed Forces and to veterans were invited to a legislative standing committee Tuesday to provide insight into how the province’s cost-of-living crisis is affecting Forces members and veterans.
After more than two decades of debate, discussion and policy dissection, Canada’s air force finally has the green light to acquire armed drones.
A fleet of 11 MQ-9B Reaper drones, built by U.S. defence contractor General Atomics, will be purchased in a $2.49 billion package, Liberal MPs announced Tuesday on behalf of Defence Minister Bill Blair.
As CBC News reported in October, delivery of the remotely piloted aircraft won’t take place until 2028 and the air force doesn’t expect to have the full fleet up and running until 2033.
This seems like a very small return on a huge investment in useless chatter.
The Department of National Defence says some menstrual product dispensers in male washrooms have been vandalized, as members of the Canadian Armed Forces question the necessity of the new government policy.
“Unfortunately, vandalism has already been observed on some dispensing/disposal units installed in DND occupied buildings,” wrote Colonel A.J. Delhommeau in an internal email obtained by The Epoch Times.
