On April 8, 2024, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau presented Canada’s latest defense initiative: Our North, Strong and Free: A Renewed Vision for Canada’s Defence. While correctly identifying that there are “growing challenges to the international order,” it explicitly emphasizes the anticipated effects of climate change and the need to protect Canada’s Arctic rather than focusing on international threats to global security. In response to pressure from the United States to participate further in North American defense, Canada has promised to invest in the Northern Warning System.
Nevertheless, Ottawa is famous for canceling military projects at the last minute. Most of Canada’s recent defense ministers are custodial managers preoccupied with politicized damage limitation rather than enhancing combat power. Defense Ministers Harjit Sajjan and Anita Anand grappled unsuccessfully with a slew of sexual assault accusations in the military, and the current minister, Bruce Blair, disingenuously declared on May 1 that he was unable to convince the federal cabinet to increase the defense budget to meet the minimum NATO threshold of two percent.
In Canada, the prime minister can hire and fire the ministers of finance and defense at will, and policy is ultimately driven by Trudeau’s anti-military inclinations. He has, for example, continued Canada’s successful delay since 1988 in acquiring new combat aircraft. Canada has also spent over $600 million on the F-35 without receiving the delivery of a single aircraft and can now no longer provide comprehensive pilot training. Consequently, Canadian recruits go to the United States to undergo a significant part of their education.
The current defense initiative explains that “this is about preserving our values of democracy, freedom, peace and fairness for the next generation of Canadians, so they can enjoy the same security and prosperity that was given to us by our parents and grandparents.”
However, beyond the rhetorical window-dressing, Canada is looking to free-ride on the efforts of its fellow democracies, not to seek peace. Trudeau, citing environmental concerns, resisted taking the emergency measures necessary to export natural gas to Europe amid the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. American defense spending divided by population is approximately $2,726 per person, whereas in Canada, it........