Liberal Government Policies Have Left Canada Vulnerable Entering A Dangerous New Era

OpinionSpencerFernando

There are many things our country could have done to build resiliency. Instead, we went in the opposite direction.

As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, there is an understandable ‘rally around the flag’ effect here in Canada.

Indeed, even many of the strongest critics of the Trudeau Liberals can support the actions they’ve taken in the past week regarding action against Russia.

For example, the imposition of sanctions, arms sales to Ukraine, and bans on Russian oil are the right moves. Other moves, like the banning of everything having to do with Russia or Russians around the world – including removing Russian teams from soccer video games and banning Russian cats from competitions is completely absurd and over the top:

When it comes to confronting the government of Russia itself, Canada should be standing with our allies and with Ukraine against Russia’s war, and it’s no surprise that surveys show strong support for these actions since they align with Canada’s core values and our heritage of freedom.

Indeed, for all the divisions in our country (divisions the government has sought to make worse and worse), most Canadians are unified when it comes to opposing the actions of a ruthless dictatorial power invading a democratic state.

However, it is essential that we not allow praise for the current actions of the government to distort the reality of how vulnerable the policies of the Liberal government have left our country.

Let’s consider this in multiple areas:

Military deficiency

Canadian soldiers are highly regarded around the world for their high level of skill. Unfortunately, Canada doesn’t have enough people in our military, and lacks much of the equipment that a modern, advanced armed force should possess.

For example, Canada’s recent contribution of weapons to Ukraine is the Carl Gustav anti-tank weapon:

“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday that Canada would be sending anti-tank weapon systems and upgraded ammunition to Ukraine. Defence Minister Anita Anand said it would consist of 100 Carl Gustav anti-tank weapon systems and 2,000 rockets. She added they were working to deliver them as soon as possible.”

The Carl Gustav was first developed in 1946, and has since been updated:

“The Canadian Army issues M2s, a 1964 design, to most Regular and Reserve units and a newer and lighter M3, a 1986 design, to light infantry units. The system normally has a crew of two: one trooper carries and loads ammunition while the other aims and shoulder-fires, usually using a telescopic sight from standing, kneeling or prone positions.

Unlike some more expensive “fire and forget” weapons, the CGS is strictly line-of-sight. But its effectiveness has been sustained and enhanced by the evolution of Saab’s ammunition. Current options include three types for multi-role engagements or against structures, three anti-armour and two anti-personnel, as well as illumination and smoke rounds. Canada’s combat inventory includes high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) rounds with an effective range of 700 metres and “dual-purpose” rounds, which can destroy fortified positions out to 500m.”

Unfortunately, the Carl Gustav pales in comparison to what our allies like the United States and the United Kingdom have sent to the UK.

They have sent Javelins and NLAW’s, both far more advanced weapons with a longer range. And, considering the weapons are being given out to people who will be involved in urban warfare – some of whom will have little to no training – the sophisticated targeting systems in Javelins and NLAWs are important, in contrast to a direct-fire Carl Gustav that will be far less useful.

Yet, Canada can’t send anything better than the Carl Gustav, because we don’t have anything better.

It’s just one of many ways our military has been so dramatically underfunded.

In the North, we have practically no defenses, which is appalling considering how Russia is building up in that region. Canadians can often feel that we are far away from Russia, but the reality is we are quite close when the North is taken into account:

https://twitter.com/SpencerFernando/status/1499239062246416388

Some tentative steps were taken in that direction under the Harper government – though even Harper started cutting the military budget towards the end of his time in office – but under the Trudeau government any progress has completely stopped.

Since Trudeau took office in 2015, Canada has somehow run nearly endless massive budget deficits without that money going towards strengthening our armed forces.

If anything, our armed forces are in an even more precarious situation, with the government unwilling to purchase new advanced fighter jets, the procurement process remaining a total mess, and morale/the reputation of the armed forces taking a hit due to repeated scandals among the top brass.

And now, with the world beginning a period of heightened tension and militarization, Canada is left with a defunded and demoralized armed forces.

Energy insecurity

Of all the nations on Earth, Canada is the one that should be the most energy secure.

Our ratio of energy resources to population is immense, and we have the benefit of living next to the world’s biggest economy, a hungry consumer of energy. Further, we are allied to the world’s wealthiest region (Europe), a region that is also desperate for more energy resources.

Yet, instead of taking advantage of that situation, the Liberal government has sought to dissuade investment in the energy sector and pander to anti-energy industry sentiment. They’ve also used energy as a divisive political tool, feeling they could gain votes in the East while crushing the energy sector in the West.

That may win an election, but it leaves all of Canada worse-off, as we are poorer, more divided, and more vulnerable as a result.

Internal division

As history shows, unified societies and societies with strong leaders can handle massive adversity.

Look at how Ukraine is resisting Russia under the leadership of Zelensky. Facing a massive war machine, the people of Ukraine have won the admiration of much of the world.

Every country – to a less dramatic extent in most cases – rises and falls based on how unified it is. And while Canada may be unified in our response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the internal divisions in our country remain large, and have been purposely exacerbated by the Trudeau Liberal government.

The Liberals purposely used vaccination as a wedge issue, imposed an unscientific vaccine mandate on truckers as most other countries were moving on from the pandemic, demonized freedom-loving Canadian protestors, and then abused their power by imposing the Emergencies Act to try and ruin the lives of those who protested against the government.

Even now, Tamara Lich is brought to court appearances in shackles, something completely disproportionate to the situation.

As a result, the government – and the media through their often-biased coverage – has wrecked trust in Canadian institutions.

Many understandably don’t believe anything the establishment press or government says.

It’s like the boy who cried wolf. The government and media have lied so many times that in an instance where they are accurate about what is taking place – Russia is indeed waging a brutal and unjustified war against Ukraine – some still have doubts.

This makes it tougher to bring people together for long-term challenges, and our country is certainly facing increasingly challenging times.

Cost-of-living crisis

On that note, the single biggest issue facing most Canadians in our day-to-day-lives is the cost-of-living crisis.

Already, finance minister Chrystia Freeland is warning that our sanctions on Russia will have an economic impact on Canadians. Of course, we can expect Freeland and the Liberals to make it seem as if the sanctions are the reason for surging inflation, just as they earlier tried to blame it on supply-chain-issues.

What they won’t mention is how massive government spending and rampant money printing, combined with policies like the carbon tax have made life far more expensive, even before the war in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia.

After all, the carbon tax is a policy explicitly designed to make life more expensive, and it’s doing what it was designed to do as affordability gets more and more out of reach for more and more Canadians.

“And next up – ⁦ @liberal_party⁩ is adding carbon taxes to punish you for driving to work – for taking your kids to school and sports – for delivery services to give you food and so much more.

Live life and we will punish you. The ⁦@JustinTrudeau⁩ motto.”

All of these issues connect to each other.

Restricting the energy sector makes our country poorer and leaves fewer resources to invest in the military.

Demonizing Canadians reduces national unity, which makes recruitment more difficult. 

Rising energy prices and a refusal to develop our own resources makes life harder for people, generating even more anger and political division.

All of that would be an issue in a time of peace and stability.

But with the world becoming more and more aggressive, competitive and potentially dangerous, we can ill-afford to be divided at this time. We also can ill-afford the economic stagnation we are currently experiencing.

So, while the moves made in the past week by the Trudeau government have been decent, the moves they’ve made since gaining power have left our nation in a much more vulnerable position than we should have ever been in, and we must keep that in mind as the Liberals attempt to rewrite the narrative of their time in office.

Spencer Fernando

Photo – YouTube

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