OTTAWA—Canada’s understaffed and resource-stretched navy is in “a critical state” and might not be able to carry out its basic duties next year, the top admiral said in a YouTube video released this week.
The comments by Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee are an unusually blunt expression of unhappiness from the military over the state of the armed forces. Canada only spends about 1.3 percent of its annual gross domestic product on defence, much less than the North Atlantic Treaty Organization target of 2 percent.
