It may sound overly simplistic to say all that Canada lacks is the ‘mindset’ necessary to become a military powerhouse. Surely, there must be more practical limitations?
Yet, history shows many ‘insurmountable’ limitations are easily overcome when necessity arises.
The ‘impossible’ becomes possible when it needs to be done. And notions of impossibility are often excuses, rather than hard limits.
Since the allocation of resources and personnel in any first-world democracy is ultimately decided more by the collective will of the populace than anything else, a nation’s lack of military strength is ultimately a choice.
In the Canadian context, we can best understand this by looking at South Korea.
Compared to Canada, South Korea has many disadvantages.
South Korea is poorer in overall terms, with a GDP of about $1.9 trillion compared to Canada’s 2.2 trillion. South Korea is poorer in per capita terms, at $36K vs $54K.
Canada is over 90 times larger than South Korea in land area, and while South Korea is dependent on imports for nearly all of its fuel and strategic resources, Canada has among the world’s largest reserves of energy, critical minerals, water, timber, and more.
South Korea’s one possible advantage is a larger population (roughly 50 million vs 40 million), though that gap will close rapidly given Canada’s higher population growth rate and South Korea’s significant demographic challenges. In fact, given Canada’s more balanced age pyramid, South Korea’s larger population may confer few if any advantages even at this point.
Yet, despite South Korea’s disadvantages compared to Canada, they have built an impressive defence-industrial sector producing a wide range of products. Below are some of South Korea’s key firms and the military products they produce:
- Hanhwa Aerospace (aircraft engine manufacturing, Self-propelled artillery production).
- Hyundai Heavy Industries (the world’s largest shipbuilder, producers of destroyers, frigates, corvettes, attack subs, and more).
- Hyundai Rotem (tanks, APCs), LIGNex1 (missiles, radars, avionics, electronic warfare, naval combat systems, etc.).
- Korea Aerospace Industries (space launch vehicles, satellites, helicopters, training aircraft, fifth-generation fighter jets).
Consider that list again. South Korea domestically produces satellites, rocket launch vehicles, missiles, ships, submarines, modern fighter jets, helicopters, tanks, and artillery.
Meanwhile, Canada has no domestic fighter jet production, no domestic tank production, no domestic self-propelled artillery production, no domestic submarine production, and no domestic launch vehicle production (though some innovative Canadians are working on it).
The reason I compare South Korea and Canada here is that doing so addresses the oft-raised concern that Canada ‘can’t afford’ to be a military powerhouse. If that were true, then there is no way South Korea (disadvantaged in almost every way compared to Canada) could have built such a strong military industry.
South Korea has just one thing Canada lacks: The right mindset.
Facing an existential threat across the border (North Korea), South Korea cannot afford to be complacent. They cannot afford to be reliant upon allies who may abandon them. Thus, South Korea made national defence a top priority and has directed economic and personnel resources in that direction.
Logically, it follows that Canada could achieve the same if we adopt the right mindset.
While we may not face the same existential threat as South Korea, we do face a more dangerous world than we had prepared for, and the U.S. has proven to be a less reliable partner than we hoped. China is engaged in a historically large military buildup, and Russia remains a threat in the Arctic. Those threats cannot be ignored.
In this scenario, military strength and domestic military production are a must.
Going forward, our imperative is clear:
In the short term, we should reach out to friendly nations – including South Korea – to purchase equipment and get factories built on Canadian soil, while injecting funds into Canadian defence firms to build up their capacity.
In the medium term, we should deepen partnerships between those growing firms and allied companies, while constructing more Canadian-owned factories.
In the long term, we should seek to build a domestic defence industry that is among the top 5 largest in the world, something well within our technological and economic capabilities.
Most importantly, we must get the idea of ‘impossibility’ out of our heads. There is no tangible force stopping Canada from possessing a robust domestic defence industry. If South Korea can do it, so can we.
Spencer Fernando
Image – YouTube
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