Canada must not stop growing its military and face the reality that the threats posed by a challenging and complex global environment have arrived at its doorstep, says the outgoing chief of the Defense Staff.
Gen. Wayne Eyre said he is “cautiously optimistic” that the Canadian Armed Forces are “improving,” with new defense spending commitments, slow improvements in recruiting and a recognition of security as a top priority for both the government as for Canadians.
But that growth is still “not fast enough,” he told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview broadcast Sunday night. The west block – probably one of the last in the top military position before planning to retire this summer.
“There is still a lot of work to do,” he said.
Listing the threats facing Canada and its allies: foreign interference, climate change that has opened the Arctic to security vulnerabilities, violent extremists at home and abroad, technological advances in warfare, and the rise of hostile global powers such as Russia and China, Eyre said Canadians can no longer be “naïve” about national security.
“We’ve been relatively isolated here, fortunately, in this country; (we’re) protected by three oceans and a superpower to the south,” he said.
“Well, security is going global. “We live in a globally integrated threat environment and we must be prepared for it.”
Eyre said the military itself must also be on guard against foreign interference, including attempts by hostile states to recruit current and former CAF members and obtain confidential information from them.
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Canada and its Five Eyes intelligence allies warned earlier this month that China is “aggressively” making efforts to recruit Western militaries to train its fighter jet pilots and the People’s Liberation Army.
New legislation passed by the House of Commons last week adds military intelligence to the list of classified information that will be illegal to share with foreign state actors.
“We know we’re a target,” Eyre said. “We know our members have coveted information, skills and experience. And it is something we have to be very attentive to.
“This is real. The threat is real.”
Eyre, who recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of his military career, said he has seen the recent history of Canada’s military as “a history of unpreparedness,” in which the country would have to “fight” to meet the challenges.
He said that stance was formed from a long period of relative peace, which he defined as lasting from 1998 to 2020, where the pressures of competition and conflict between great powers during the world wars and the Cold War diminished. This, in turn, informed decision-makers in the government tasked with approving defense budgets, he said.
“Well, history has returned and we need to take a long-term view of history and have that sense of tragedy that goes with it,” he said.
“History has not been kind to many countries in the arc of the conflict.”
Asked if he thinks the current government understands that renewed threat, Eyre said: “That’s not my place to say.”
But he did say he believes a “national security dialogue” is needed to better inform Canadians about the threats that exist, so they can then demand their members of Parliament take security more seriously.
Eyre said he has expressed to his team the need for the Canadian military to increase its readiness by the end of this decade at the earliest, pointing to military buildups taking place in China and Russia.
“We need, as a primary national security objective, to avoid a war between great powers,” he said.
“This is best achieved through the ability to collectively deter adventurism, expansionism and imperialism. And that’s the bottom line we’re looking at within the Canadian Armed Forces: anything we can do to increase our deterrence… by that time.”
He added that pursuing that deterrence through alliances like NATO is a collective advantage Canada has, although he also suggested that could be its greatest vulnerability.
Canada remains short of NATO’s goal of spending at least two percent of GDP on defense, although the government insists it will meet the goal in the future. Even after committing billions in new spending to its updated defense policy, Canada is projected to reach just 1.76 per cent within five years, fueling frustration in the United States ahead of next year’s NATO Summit. month in Washington.
“We need to make sure we maintain our influence, our credibility with that group, continue to cooperate, continue to be able to interoperate around the world with our closest allies,” Eyre said.
Continuing on the current path towards greater readiness will be the biggest challenge for Eyre’s successor, who has yet to be named. He said the process to find his replacement is ongoing.
He said he has “almost a notebook full of advice” and transition notes ready to give to whoever takes the next position.
That person, he said, will have to provide advice and options to the government as crises occur, “because they will continue to occur with increasing frequency.”
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