SOME "ANSWERS" FROM THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA ABOUT DEFENCE

After posting I'D RATHER HAVE AN AIRFORCE THAN A NATIONAL PHARMACARE PROGRAM Canadian Defence Matters sent an abbreviated version of the post to a variety of politicians, it said;

I believe that as a citizen it is my duty to make my priorities clear to my representatives in government. I am contacting you to with these priorities in mind.

 I am not sure how many people realize that Canada doesn't really have an Air Force.

 We don't have enough transport aircraft to meet our stated needs. We don't have enough search and rescue aircraft for a country this size, nor do we have the numbers of long range reconnaissance/patrol aircraft our lengthy coastlines demand. Many of the helicopters we use are aging and we do not have a viable number of lift helicopters.  Even more important, we don't have the personnel to properly maintain and fly the aircraft we do have. All these shortcomings are most evident, and most troubling, in our fighter fleet.

 The fleet of operational Cf-18 Hornet jet fighters is currently down to about 37 aircraft.  This fleet size is sufficient only to sustain domestic NORAD operations. In fact it has been announced that the RCAF would withdraw from NATO commitments for the foreseeable future. Even more problematic is the lack of pilots and support personnel, which may even lead to the Air Force being unable to fulfill the NORAD alert mission requirements in full. This will only get worse as the F-35 transition gets underway in the coming years. It is more than likely that there will be insufficient personnel to staff both aircraft types, which will likely result in even fewer available CF-18s to meet the alert role.

Aside from the very real threats posed to Canadian security by this situation, what will happen when the United States loses confidence in its northern neighbour to be a stalwart, binational partner? What will happen if the U.S. believes that there is a serious security threat that needs to be met by NORAD and that Canada is not capable of fulfilling our obligations to continental defence?

I believe that there will be real world consequences that will impact Canada negatively. When that happens, when Canadians realize that not having an Air Force have consequences that affect Canadian sovereignty and security, we will blame the politicians for getting us in this mess. 

The politicians will blame the generals and the generals in turn will complain about the politicians. 

The truth is, it will be our fault. Canadian Citizens have not made Defence a priority for their leaders. We have chosen an illusory security and short term gains over real security and long term planning. We have taken the easy way and there will be no one else to blame but ourselves.

So I have decided that the time has come to tell our political leaders something different. If asked in the future I am going to tell anyone who will listen that: 

I'D RATHER HAVE AN AIRFORCE THAN A NATIONAL PHARMACARE PROGRAM

I received replies from James Bezan, the Conservative party shadow minister for National Defence and, eventually, from Pierre Poilievre, leader of the official opposition.

Dear J.G.,

Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with me regarding our Royal Canadian Air Force.

 

I agree that Canada's Air Force is essentially unable to meet our NORAD and NATO partnership commitments, which degrades our standing amongst our allies who depend on us for binational and multilateral security.

 

Under the Trudeau Liberals, our fighter pilots and technicians have left in droves in response to Liberal politicking with fighter jet procurement. After a naive election promise never to purchase the F-35, Justin Trudeau ran a years long competition only to select the F-35 in the end. In the interim he spent a billion dollars purchasing used jets from Australia as old as our current obsolete fleet. 

 

When Canada finally takes delivery of the F-35 in the mid 2030's, barring further delays, we will not have the staffing necessary to fly or maintain them.  The fault lies at the feet of Justin Trudeau and his contempt for our men and women in uniform. 

 

Conservatives understand that rebuilding our Air Force and the CAF in general will not happen overnight, but we understand the national security implications of allowing our military to further erode. At a time of increased geopolitical instability at levels not seen since the Cold War, and increased great power competition, Conservatives will bring home security for Canadians.

 

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts with me, and for your concern for our Royal Canadian Air Force.

 Sincerely,

James Bezan, MP

Shadow Minister for National Defence

I replied as follows;

James Bezan,

 Thank you for your reply to my email. I appreciate your concern for our armed forces and agree with you that 'politicking' is a key reason for many of the problems we have. Unfortunately, blaming Justin Trudeau personally for all the problems our defence establishment suffers from is just another example of the kind of behavior that has handicapped the Canadian Armed Forces for so long.

 I understand that if you wish to bring in new policies you need to form a government, and I understand that the Liberal Party of Canada has worked long and hard to sell Justin Trudeau as their 'brand leader' so it becomes incumbent upon you, if you wish to attack the brand, to attack the spokesman. But phrases like "Justin Trudeau and his contempt for our men and women in uniform." are not just pointless,(and probably untrue) they suggest that you are more interested in politicking then in dealing with the real problems we face. 

We have real issues with recruiting and retention, getting rid of Justin Trudeau will not create more jobs for spouses of service personnel in places like Cold Lake or Bagotville. It won't help with unaffordable housing or the frequent moves that make military service so unappealing for so many. We have real problems that are going to need hard choices to fix. 

My main point was that I was willing to forgo spending on social problems so as to be able to put more resources into Defence. I know you want to "bring home security for Canadians." but how do you intend to pay for that, where is the money coming from? Find some good answers to those questions and your party is more likely to get my vote in the future.

J.G. Murray

I received the following response.

Dear J.G.,

Thank you for your follow up email. I appreciate your thoughts and concerns. 

I can say that conversations are always happening both at the Standing Committee on National Defence and within the Conservative team about what needs to happen to fix the issues facing the Canadian Armed Forces. Our defence policy and costed platform will be released in due course. Until then, I am unable to share the specifics of what a future Conservative government will do, but rest assured it is front of my mind. 

 

Thank you again for your correspondence. 

James Bezan, MP

Shadow Minister for National Defence

This reply was received from Pierre Poilievre, leader of the official opposition.

Dear J.G. Murray:

On behalf of the Hon. Pierre Poilievre, thank you for your correspondence.  We have noted your concerns regarding the Canadian military and national defence spending.   

After nine years of Trudeau, our military has been gutted and left in a state of disrepair.  Trudeau has failed our Canadian Armed Forces and the men and women who serve.  In 2017, the Liberals released their first Defence Policy document Strong, Secured, Engaged, which proved to be a book of empty promises. They have missed every marker set out by the original defence policy for defence spending.

In fact, this Liberal government has let over $10 billion lapse in the last eight years and recently cut the defence budget by another $1-billion.  Under the Liberals’ watch, we are short almost 16,000 troops this year and a further 10,000 troops are undertrained and undeployable.  After eight years of Trudeau, he has hollowed out our military and only 58% of our forces stand ready to deploy.

Further, Canada’s stature as a trusted and reliable NATO partner has been diminished under this Liberal government.  Last year, the Trudeau government spent 1.29% of our GDP on defence, putting Canada 25th out of 29 NATO members.  Two years after the war in Ukraine began, this borders on negligence.

Our allies no longer take Canada seriously. Under the Liberals watch, our warships are rusting out, our fighter jets are worn out, our army has been hollowed out and we are so short of sailors, soldiers and aircrew that our troops are burnt out.  Entire air squadrons are being shut down because they don't have enough personnel. Our submarines are barely in the water and our warships are aging faster than expected and the Liberals’ plan to replace them is still years away. 

As the world is gripped with Russian aggression, it is more important than ever for our military to have the equipment it needs to protect our vast borders and support our NATO allies.  Conservatives support the commitments Canada has made to NATO, and we must make an effort to meet them.

Common sense Conservatives are the only party that will stand with our troops and ensure they have the equipment and resources they need to do their important work.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to write.

Sincerely,

Correspondence Unit
Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition

I replied as follows;

Correspondence Unit, Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition

 Thank you for responding on behalf of the Hon. Pierre Poilievre. I share your concerns about the Canadian Armed Forces, but it is not clear from your email what you plan to do about the problems you catalogue. If you will recall, the suggestion in my initial correspondence was that I was prepared to forgo some social spending in order to increase spending on the Armed Forces.

  What increases in the budget of the DND do you foresee under a Conservative government?  I would also be interested to know if you plan to fund any increases by way of cuts to other programs or by raising taxes.  Does a Conservative government under Pierre Poilievre expect to reach the NATO target of spending a minimum of 2% of GDP on defence and, if so, do you have a spending plan to achieve that goal?

Thank you again for reaching out, I look forward to hearing from you.

J.G. Murray

In the event that more replies of note are received I will pass them on.