How did it come to this?
The largest joint air exercise of NATO countries is taking place in Germany. Almost every NATO country is involved. It’s a crucial exercise at a crucial time, given the increased belligerence of Russia and China, two authoritarian states led by dictators who want to weaken the West and imprison more people within the borders of their dystopian nations.
The rising threat posed by these foreign dictatorships necessitates a response from the world’s democracies, and air power is a key deterrent.
Unfortunately, Canada isn’t a part of the exercises.
Why not?
Because we don’t have a functioning air force. In fact, our air force barely exists.
As noted by the National Post, “In a shocking and embarrassing development, the Department of National Defence said that “while the Royal Canadian Air Force remains ready to deploy NATO-committed assets as required,” it was unable to accept Germany’s invitation for Canadian aircraft to participate because “many of our aircraft and personnel are currently committed to modernization activities such as the Hornet Extension Project … and training new and existing fighter pilots and technicians as part of our ongoing reconstitution efforts.””
The “Hornet Extension Project” refers to the attempt to keep our decrepit F-18 Hornets flying long after they should have been retired.
The government estimates that the Hornets will be fully ready in 2025. Canada will begin receiving some F-35s beginning in 2027, but the full fleet won’t be ready until the mid 2030s. And while all past governments – including Conservatives ones – played a role in getting Canada to the point where our military is crumbling, Justin Trudeau delayed the F-35 deal for 7 years by putting politics ahead of Canada’s national security. As a result, we basically have no air force at all.
This is an absolute embarrassment.
Canada is a nation of 40 million people.
Our overall GDP is nearly $2 Trillion USD. We are a technologically advanced country. We have deep economic and cultural relationship with the world’s most prolific maker of weapons. The fact that we can’t even field a decent air force is pathetic.
And the world is far too dangerous for this. Before China’s massive military build-up, and before Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, our lack of military spending was still a dangerous weakness. Now, it’s simply unacceptable.
Further, some have responded to this by saying that Canada should refocus spending here at home and cut off support for Ukraine. But that would be the wrong answer. The truth is that we need to keep supporting Ukraine – as Ukraine’s military success helps reduce the threat Russia poses to our NATO allies – and we also need to massively increase military spending here at home. We must do both.
People may not like to hear it, but we live in a different world now, and it’s a world in which we have to simultaneously curtail most government spending while ramping up our military budget. Canada must step up and contribute to our alliances and to our own national defence, and no more excuses or government spin can substitute for real spending on real military capabilities.
Spencer Fernando
