This is a time for serious thinking about ensuring our nation can defend itself.
At this point, only the most naive of people could look at the state of the world and still ignore the need for a strong national defense.
Wishful thinking simply won’t cut it.
Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and the terrorist proxies they prop up are only going to become more dangerous in the coming years.
A massive war – a war Canada will not be able to hide from – is increasingly likely, whether we like it or not.
In an ideal world, Canada would be well-positioned for this dangerous era.
We would have a strong defence industry.
We would have an excess of serious thinkers and advocates for a strong national defence.
We would have a government willing to make decisions that were unpopular in the short term to ensure our national security for the long term.
But that’s not the case.
Instead, we have a defence industry that has been starved of funding for many years.
We have a dearth of serious thinkers and few advocates for a strong national defence.
And we have a government that is unwilling to even come close to the 2% NATO target, even as they run massive deficits to spend on everything else.
To turn this around we must elevate every serious voice we can find.
When it comes to national defence, partisanship is not a luxury we can afford.
This is why all serious Canadians – regardless of where they may stand on the political spectrum – should be heeding the warnings and listening to the wisdom of Andrew Leslie.
Leslie – who served 35 years in the CAF and was the former Chief of Staff of the Canadian Army, before later serving as a Liberal MP for the constituency of Orléans – has been one of the few voices warning about how dire a situation Canada finds itself in when it comes to national defence.
Here’s some of what he said in a recent interview with the National Post:
“One to two years prior to Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine in 2022,” Andrew reiterates, “a bunch of idiots decided to cancel the standing offer (with the two Canadian manufacturers of 155-mm artillery shells) because there was no business case for Canada to continue investing in the production of ammunition.”
The federal government decided Canada’s military did not need a secure supply of ammunition; “that’s the inevitable conclusion,” Andrew winces. So we went from domestically producing a sizeable quantity of ammunition (which we used to train our armed forces soldiers, and stockpiled for our friends and allies), he explains, to producing a trickle.”
Leslie also notes that little action is being taken to address this:
“The demoralizing impact on recruitment is obvious. Our troops have limited ammunition for training and aging equipment. “According to the numbers I have,” Andrew reports, “72% of the army’s vehicles and trailers are offline.”
“I think the big issue is, right now, the men and women in uniform don’t see any demonstrable proof that the federal government is actually seized of the issue of trying to get them the capabilities they need to better defend Canadians.”
He hastens to add: “No one who’s wearing a uniform is to blame.”
This country – and our allies – are at serious risk. We could be heading into a massive global conflict almost completely unprepared.
So, we need to gather together the voices of as many serious Canadians as possible and raise awareness about the need for Canada to rearm ASAP.
It doesn’t matter whether someone was once a Conservative, Liberal, NDP, or anything else at this point. What matters is whether someone can see the danger we are in, or not.
Thus – if you have Twitter – I encourage you to follow Andrew Leslie and help encourage our fellow Citizens to take the defence of our nation seriously.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
