Commentary
Every little bit helps when it comes to sending aid to Ukraine. Canada took that motto to heart when Defence Minister Anita Anand announced with great fanfare that Canada would be sending a grand total
of four Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine. A little bit indeed. A veritable drop in the bucket for a nation facing an enemy in possession of thousands of battle-ready tanks.
A well-maintained Leopard 2 tank is formidable in a ground battle and it is the tank of choice for countries sending military aid to Ukraine. Indeed, even the tiny nation of
Greece is sending 14 of them to Ukraine. So why is Canada sending such a paltry number if indeed we’re committed to sending significant military hardware to aid in Ukraine’s defence?
Minister Anand sounded defensive when she said “it’s not just symbolism” in response to questions about the contribution.
When one considers what four tanks represent as a portion of Canada’s armoured military reserves, it does go beyond a symbolic contribution. Despite being the second-largest country on earth in area, Canada only has
82 tanks designed for combat and there are questions about how many are serviceable. The tanks sent to Ukraine represent a big bite out of Canada’s domestic defence ability.
Canada has been mismanaging and underfunding its military for generations. Let’s face it, the nation’s proximity to the highly militarized and thankfully friendly United States has allowed Canada to be lazy in funding its own defence. No country would dare to invade Canada knowing it would face the wrath of the American military in the process.
Canada’s military shortcomings have been internationally embarrassing for decades and have ended in tragedy for Canadian service members at times.
Canada’s Sea King helicopters were in service for over 50 years and were known for unreliability and crashes in later years. Eight
aircrew members of Sea Kings died before the helicopters were replaced. Canada purchased four used submarines from the UK at the end of the 1990s. The submarines proved to be worn out, have rarely been in seaworthy shape, and led to the death of one service member and the injury of nine others
in a fire in 2004.
Members of the military understand they are taking on a dangerous job in service to the nation. They shouldn’t be taking on personal risk due to using antiquated equipment, though.
Canada must have a serious discussion of what sort of military power it wants to be. Does it want to be an international peacekeeper with a presence in war zones? Does it want to reduce its dependency upon the United States for domestic defence? Will Canada keep a surplus of modern equipment it can lend or donate to other countries, as with Ukraine?
Canada can’t afford to be all of those things, but it haphazardly tries to do so and with terrible results. It needs to settle on its military vision and begin a quick and effective procurement process to revamp and equip the forces.
Speaking of procurement, Canada has utterly crippled itself in that department.
For example, service members are currently equipped with World War II vintage sidearms. At a military target shooting competition in Arkansas in 2017,
15 of 20 of the Canadian pistols brought had to be withdrawn due to malfunctions. How embarrassing that must have been for service members, and how discomforting in thinking their lives may rely on those pistols. The military has spent millions and has talked about replacing the sidearms for decades. They think the replacements may be purchased by 2026 and
cost $50 million to $99 million. They could likely get new sidearms from Cabela’s within weeks and at a lesser cost, but that isn’t how the military works.
Decades have been spent discussing the replacement of Canada’s aging CF-18s, with Prime Minister Trudeau recently reversing a former political stance and committing to buy new jets. Naval ships are wearing out while Canada is looking at spending up to $
300 billion on new ones, if they ever should be built. The story is the same all over.
Canada will never have a massive, standing military force. Our population doesn’t warrant it. Our geography dictates that we should have as modern and well-equipped a force as possible, however, even if small. We have thousands of kilometres of Arctic coastline we can’t access for lack of nuclear subs or icebreakers.
Canada’s measly contribution of tanks to Ukraine has cast a light upon our outdated and emaciated military force. If it wants to be taken seriously on the world stage, Canada needs a wholesale reform of its forces. I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for that to happen.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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