For decades, "we" has been denied, as Canada brings in more and more immigrants loyal to foreign countries. And our state certainly denies there is such a thing as a Canadian people.
In the age of land acknowledgements, Canada explicitly disavows ownership of the territory. Why would we spend money to defend stolen land?
The ideology of the modern Canadian state makes major efforts to defend Arctic sovereignty absurd.
Far too many people seem to think we can solve the problems created by contradictions in our official Canadian ideology without resolving the contradictions.
>> Why were we relying on others to defend our own territory? Or fuel our economy? Why were we not taking full responsibility for defending our sovereignty? How did that even happen?<<
Canadians are cheap. Think about it, we are a country that is too cheap to tear down the rat infested prime minister's house. We buy used submarines. We are half-assed and with government's help over the decades, we started to believe our only job was to wear a blue beret and do peacekeeping. That's the image Canada loves to cling to.
It never was real.
This is a country that is too cheap to take care of its veterans. Now with $4.2 billion being slashed from VAC which is perpetually broken and everyone knows it is broken.
Best people I ever worked with.. Veterans deserve better. Why join up in the middle of a recruiting crisis when the government doesn't have your back when you are injured and get out.
I joined the infantry in 1985. I was trained at the height of the cold war when we could get nuked before breakfast
We were cheap then and we are cheap now. I remember going to clothing stores regularly to exchange my worn out combat fatigues for a used set that was only slightly less worn. No blank rounds because of cuts and grown men running around the back forty in their fighting order shouting 'Bang Bang".
Everything Matt pointed out is bang-on 100%.
Self reflection sounds great but we would have to get everyone's eyes off their smart phones for a few minutes.
"Why are we still fighting certain veterans groups in court? Because they're asking for more than we are able to give right now," Trudeau, February, 2018.
There was money to be squandered on affordable housing, venture capital, public procurement contracts for young, innovative firms and to develop an intellectual-property strategy. How did those investments work out?
And the awfulness of the fact we have carried on as described for as long as we have is surpassed only by the fact that so many of us did it with the smug self-satisfaction referred to by Matt (particularly vis-a-vis the USA).
People that were around in the early 1970's watched as the government ruined (yes that's a harsh word) federal administration. IMO the Trudeau pere Liberals faced a real, pressing problem of poor economic development in some regions. Instead of economic development, they chose the quick fix of hiring lots of people into the civil service.
Administration was the easiest area to grow quickly; layers were added. By the 1980's a huge number of federal civil servants were able to hinder anything they found threatening, such as efficiency and effectiveness. Procurement dysfunctionally required ever increasing delays. A new paper trail supported each new layer. Costs sky rocketed. That's how we got to now.
IMO all of the comments herein, including Canada's needed mea culpas, apply to decisions over the past 50 years that ignored or denied the need to build economic strength. IMO our under developed economy is our biggest weakness.
IMO it's not time to build the economy under the rubric of the military, it's time to build the military as a service in a country that values and builds our economy. A country's strength comes in part from organizing so that dysfunction in one service does not doom another. (For example, search and rescue should be a separate service from the military. Ports with an economic development component should be build by port authorities with the economy in mind, and the military can support and use the port. Etc.)
Focus on building the economy and lots else falls into place.
Totally agree with this well written column. Sadly though, the last 25 at least years,have eroded the capability of the bureaucracy to manage large projects. One just has to look at the announcement today on Phoenix ,the federal pay system. At the centre of the problem is a total weakening of the senior levels of the bureaucracy’s ability to speak truth to power. Carney is showing he can listen, but without a significant change in the culture we may be stuck limping along.
Is it possible this is what the majority of Canadians want? If we continue to elect governments that create these situations it can only mean we are getting what we have asked for?
Both major parties have contributed to this but after about 10 years of Trudeau Liberal policy the majority of Canadians (primarily Central Canda) asked for more of the same.
At least Harper's Conservatives didn't completely botch the fighter jets file, and foreign policy file. Trudeau's tenure was one clusterf**k after another. It'll take generations to repair, if that's even possible.
Totally agree Matt, humbling ourselves and admitting it’s our fault is the first step to turning around ( repentance!) and doing things differently and hopefully better.
Well thought out and well written article Matt. I would have used much harsher words, but I understand why you didn't. I may be one of the few who always pay attention to the world around us. Recently retired, I'm now seriously considering leaving Canada. I don't believe Carney has any capacity to fix the destruction caused by Trudeau, Chretien and their ilk. Canadians don't think they like Poilievre, but they don't know reality. It's sad, really; "Poilievre Derangement Syndrome" (PDS).
Trump was right. As usual. If only Canadians could pull their heads from their a$$es... But then, there are no real "Canadians" anymore, are there?...
Hot take time. Could it be the weaponized theatre kids that got their hands on power for a decade simply had a world view that didn't comprehend the necessity of a well provisioned armed forces?
The idea of "progress" was one that held such things were largely unnecessary in a "post-national" state. That talking shops like the UN, WTO, the international criminal court were all that were needed in the new reality offered from a naive reading of Fukuyama's end of history. Somehow the arc of history bending towards justice is incompatible with procurement of radar systems and vector-thrust fighter bombers.
The truly cynical part was the lip-service paid by 'announcing' the resources needed for military equipment and training, which they knew would never be spent from the public purse under their watch. They had elections to win ya know.
Meanwhile, the Liberals were more than ready to spend tax and debt dollars in real time to aggressively go after the NDP, thereby further securing seats in urban areas. Not a bad strategy when you are trying to appeal to only 30% of the electorate.
And then the rules-based international order, which your world view took as a given, starts to collapse and your country gets punched in the face.
Guess I’ll jump into this fray (pity party?) (Must be getting an attack of FOMO)
Canada attitude to the arctic seems to be either pretentiousness or being dog in the manger. How else can it justify claiming dominion over such a huge territory and resources with so little commitment and resources?
Waving pieces of paper written almost 200 years ago impresses no one. Especially the original inhabitants whose white lawyers say that whitey stole the land from them in the first place and who are the only ones who have a dog in the fight every day.
When the Red Chinese snd Russians start building resource extraction facilities and “research” stations (all owned by nominally Canadian but Chinese controlled companies) will there be enough equipment and mukluks (hopefully more effective in preventing the massive frostbite recently encountered by Canadian troops in Alaska) to control them?
Well said. We are not safe, full stop. Canadians need to get themselves psychologically prepared for that realization. Right now, most aren't prepared for when the wifi is out, I suspect.
Our military is in the state it is because it became a political bauble, to be used to garner votes from whatever side or perspective the government of the day required to maintain power. Then it succumbed to the primary Canadian industry - creating, growing and maintaining sclerotic, impenetrable and immobile bureaucracies whose reason to exist appears only to be self-perpetuation. It's the result of political parties led by politicians that seek power only for it's own sake, not to pursue specific goals or outcomes for the benefit of the citizenry at large as opposed to carefully defined voting blocs.
You need only look at the National Defence Act to see why defence spending was allowed to languish to the point of atrophy. There are no active verbs in the NDA. It basically says you can have a military but does not define what it should do in policy. Things like sovereignty, defence of national interests abroad, etc. This has allowed politicians to do nothing as they have no policy definition to hold their feet to the fire. Without that kind of direction, you cannot define size of a force needed, what type of forces, readiness, etc. Its not complicated: no policy, no force requirements.
"Our" "own" territory?
For decades, "we" has been denied, as Canada brings in more and more immigrants loyal to foreign countries. And our state certainly denies there is such a thing as a Canadian people.
In the age of land acknowledgements, Canada explicitly disavows ownership of the territory. Why would we spend money to defend stolen land?
The ideology of the modern Canadian state makes major efforts to defend Arctic sovereignty absurd.
You aren't supposed to connect those dots. Please keep every announcement in its own silo.
Far too many people seem to think we can solve the problems created by contradictions in our official Canadian ideology without resolving the contradictions.
Our government apologizes for settling Canada while bringing in record numbers of settlers.
In fairness, the new people are mere immigrants. They aren't generally doing the tough job of creating a developed economy from the wilderness.
>> Why were we relying on others to defend our own territory? Or fuel our economy? Why were we not taking full responsibility for defending our sovereignty? How did that even happen?<<
Canadians are cheap. Think about it, we are a country that is too cheap to tear down the rat infested prime minister's house. We buy used submarines. We are half-assed and with government's help over the decades, we started to believe our only job was to wear a blue beret and do peacekeeping. That's the image Canada loves to cling to.
It never was real.
This is a country that is too cheap to take care of its veterans. Now with $4.2 billion being slashed from VAC which is perpetually broken and everyone knows it is broken.
Best people I ever worked with.. Veterans deserve better. Why join up in the middle of a recruiting crisis when the government doesn't have your back when you are injured and get out.
I joined the infantry in 1985. I was trained at the height of the cold war when we could get nuked before breakfast
We were cheap then and we are cheap now. I remember going to clothing stores regularly to exchange my worn out combat fatigues for a used set that was only slightly less worn. No blank rounds because of cuts and grown men running around the back forty in their fighting order shouting 'Bang Bang".
Everything Matt pointed out is bang-on 100%.
Self reflection sounds great but we would have to get everyone's eyes off their smart phones for a few minutes.
And yet our governments spend a fantastic amount of money on all kinds of ridiculous things.
The Canadian state and Canadian voters aren't cheap. They just don't want to spend money on certain things.
And we don't like paying taxes.
We might feel better about taxes if what we're paying for #$% worked.
"Why are we still fighting certain veterans groups in court? Because they're asking for more than we are able to give right now," Trudeau, February, 2018.
There was money to be squandered on affordable housing, venture capital, public procurement contracts for young, innovative firms and to develop an intellectual-property strategy. How did those investments work out?
100%
EVERY. WORD. OF. THIS.
And the awfulness of the fact we have carried on as described for as long as we have is surpassed only by the fact that so many of us did it with the smug self-satisfaction referred to by Matt (particularly vis-a-vis the USA).
Outstanding piece, Matt.
People that were around in the early 1970's watched as the government ruined (yes that's a harsh word) federal administration. IMO the Trudeau pere Liberals faced a real, pressing problem of poor economic development in some regions. Instead of economic development, they chose the quick fix of hiring lots of people into the civil service.
Administration was the easiest area to grow quickly; layers were added. By the 1980's a huge number of federal civil servants were able to hinder anything they found threatening, such as efficiency and effectiveness. Procurement dysfunctionally required ever increasing delays. A new paper trail supported each new layer. Costs sky rocketed. That's how we got to now.
My goodness, I cant disagree with a single word. Well written Matt. !
IMO all of the comments herein, including Canada's needed mea culpas, apply to decisions over the past 50 years that ignored or denied the need to build economic strength. IMO our under developed economy is our biggest weakness.
IMO it's not time to build the economy under the rubric of the military, it's time to build the military as a service in a country that values and builds our economy. A country's strength comes in part from organizing so that dysfunction in one service does not doom another. (For example, search and rescue should be a separate service from the military. Ports with an economic development component should be build by port authorities with the economy in mind, and the military can support and use the port. Etc.)
Focus on building the economy and lots else falls into place.
Totally agree with this well written column. Sadly though, the last 25 at least years,have eroded the capability of the bureaucracy to manage large projects. One just has to look at the announcement today on Phoenix ,the federal pay system. At the centre of the problem is a total weakening of the senior levels of the bureaucracy’s ability to speak truth to power. Carney is showing he can listen, but without a significant change in the culture we may be stuck limping along.
Well said. This country can't get things done. Great at announcements but crap on the follow through.
Is it possible this is what the majority of Canadians want? If we continue to elect governments that create these situations it can only mean we are getting what we have asked for?
Both major parties have contributed to this but after about 10 years of Trudeau Liberal policy the majority of Canadians (primarily Central Canda) asked for more of the same.
Given the conservatives didn't feel the need to offer more in this area, yeah, it is on voters in the end.
At least Harper's Conservatives didn't completely botch the fighter jets file, and foreign policy file. Trudeau's tenure was one clusterf**k after another. It'll take generations to repair, if that's even possible.
It's not looking good these days.
AS an 85 year old Canadian I totally agree with you. Well said
Totally agree Matt, humbling ourselves and admitting it’s our fault is the first step to turning around ( repentance!) and doing things differently and hopefully better.
Well thought out and well written article Matt. I would have used much harsher words, but I understand why you didn't. I may be one of the few who always pay attention to the world around us. Recently retired, I'm now seriously considering leaving Canada. I don't believe Carney has any capacity to fix the destruction caused by Trudeau, Chretien and their ilk. Canadians don't think they like Poilievre, but they don't know reality. It's sad, really; "Poilievre Derangement Syndrome" (PDS).
Trump was right. As usual. If only Canadians could pull their heads from their a$$es... But then, there are no real "Canadians" anymore, are there?...
What is a real Canadian?
Hot take time. Could it be the weaponized theatre kids that got their hands on power for a decade simply had a world view that didn't comprehend the necessity of a well provisioned armed forces?
The idea of "progress" was one that held such things were largely unnecessary in a "post-national" state. That talking shops like the UN, WTO, the international criminal court were all that were needed in the new reality offered from a naive reading of Fukuyama's end of history. Somehow the arc of history bending towards justice is incompatible with procurement of radar systems and vector-thrust fighter bombers.
The truly cynical part was the lip-service paid by 'announcing' the resources needed for military equipment and training, which they knew would never be spent from the public purse under their watch. They had elections to win ya know.
Meanwhile, the Liberals were more than ready to spend tax and debt dollars in real time to aggressively go after the NDP, thereby further securing seats in urban areas. Not a bad strategy when you are trying to appeal to only 30% of the electorate.
And then the rules-based international order, which your world view took as a given, starts to collapse and your country gets punched in the face.
This was all unforeseen!!!! WE MEANT WELL!!!
Guess I’ll jump into this fray (pity party?) (Must be getting an attack of FOMO)
Canada attitude to the arctic seems to be either pretentiousness or being dog in the manger. How else can it justify claiming dominion over such a huge territory and resources with so little commitment and resources?
Waving pieces of paper written almost 200 years ago impresses no one. Especially the original inhabitants whose white lawyers say that whitey stole the land from them in the first place and who are the only ones who have a dog in the fight every day.
When the Red Chinese snd Russians start building resource extraction facilities and “research” stations (all owned by nominally Canadian but Chinese controlled companies) will there be enough equipment and mukluks (hopefully more effective in preventing the massive frostbite recently encountered by Canadian troops in Alaska) to control them?
Well said. We are not safe, full stop. Canadians need to get themselves psychologically prepared for that realization. Right now, most aren't prepared for when the wifi is out, I suspect.
Excellent piece as usual.
Our military is in the state it is because it became a political bauble, to be used to garner votes from whatever side or perspective the government of the day required to maintain power. Then it succumbed to the primary Canadian industry - creating, growing and maintaining sclerotic, impenetrable and immobile bureaucracies whose reason to exist appears only to be self-perpetuation. It's the result of political parties led by politicians that seek power only for it's own sake, not to pursue specific goals or outcomes for the benefit of the citizenry at large as opposed to carefully defined voting blocs.
Goes back to the Ross Rifle methinks.
You need only look at the National Defence Act to see why defence spending was allowed to languish to the point of atrophy. There are no active verbs in the NDA. It basically says you can have a military but does not define what it should do in policy. Things like sovereignty, defence of national interests abroad, etc. This has allowed politicians to do nothing as they have no policy definition to hold their feet to the fire. Without that kind of direction, you cannot define size of a force needed, what type of forces, readiness, etc. Its not complicated: no policy, no force requirements.
But I thought ... I thought we were a 'middle power'?