By Newell Durnbrooke
Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre has headed into retirement but not before sending a scathing message to those who raised concerns about his changes to dress and deportment rules as well as those who questioned the selection of Gen. Jennie Carignan as his successor.
You’re all a bunch of Russian stooges.
Eyre used his July 18 speech at the CDS change of command ceremony to lash out at his critics, particularly those who are less than enthused about his 2022 policy that allows troops to look like Charles Manson (or RuPal) if they so desire.
Eyre says those retired and serving Canadian Armed Forces members who criticize the military’s culture change initiatives are actually helping Russian President Vladimir Putin destroy the military.
“Our own institution is being targeted every day as we see pro-Kremlin trolls tailoring their insidious propaganda to cause maximum harm, in many cases with fabricated personal attacks,” he said. “Gen. Carignan, you have already seen this. Even if they (critics) don’t see themselves consciously aligned with hostile states their ends are the same -and to play on a term that Lenin claimed- they are Putin’s useful idiots.”
“This is a real issue that lures those who would drag us into the culture wars,” Eyre added. “That is we can either treat people with respect and dignity or we can be operationally effective. This is a false dichotomy as we know operational effectiveness is predicated on strong cohesive teams.”
Eyre used a pretty broad brush to paint as “Putin Puppets” those who even raise the slightest of concerns about the future direction of the CAF or dare to criticize some of these new policies.
By the way, the general, who is reportedly going to write a book on leadership as he collects his $210,000 a year pension, didn’t provide any proof to back up his allegations that CAF veterans are associated with the Russians.
Those who did watch the change of command ceremonies live on Facebook, or later on the parliamentary TV channel, would have gotten a chuckle from Defence Minister Bill Blair’s latest gaffe.
Blair praised Eyre for his outstanding leadership, noting that he had brought stability and passion to the job. “In fact, on the very first day of my appointment as the Minister of Defence, I had a conversation with Jane Eyre that has resonated and stayed with me from the moment I met him,” Blair said before the audience of several hundred.
Just another normal day at National Defence….conversing with Jane Eyre.
Retired Lt. Gen. Andrew Leslie seems to be on a mission to warn Canadians about Justin Trudeau. Leslie has done multiple media interviews lately outlining how Trudeau isn’t serious on defence or funding the Canadian Forces.
Leslie, a former army commander and Liberal MP in the Trudeau government, outlined his concerns in columns written in May and in June by Donna Kennedy-Glans, a former Alberta Conservative cabinet minister. Not enough money is being spent on the military, he said. The Canadian Forces is being ignored by government. The army doesn’t have a presence in the Arctic. And so on.
But is anyone actually listening?
Leslie, a wealthy individual in his own right, makes the same mistake that his fellow retired generals make – that Canadians struggling to make ends meet actually care whether the RCAF gets enough F-35s or the army receives a replacement tank.
“They (the Liberal government) believe there’s a whole host of societal funding requirements, ranging from increases in healthcare, to daycare, to children getting breakfast at school— and a bewildering array of boutique allocations of funds to cater to voter-sensitive initiatives,” Leslie told Kennedy-Glans of the National Post newspaper. “And defence comes after all of that.”
Yes Andy, that is how voters tend to think. Feed children, have health care, have their kids taken care of…and then worry about buying more smart bombs.
There was also this choice quote from Leslie. “I had the privilege and honour to be in close proximity to three consecutive prime ministers who made the system work such that we bought tanks, artillery ammunition, small arms ammunition, helicopters, guns, armour-protective vehicles, new weapons systems, the list goes on,” Leslie explained. “And those were Prime Minister Chretien, Prime Minister Martin, and Prime Minister Harper.”
Jean Chretien? Is Leslie kidding? Chretien cut the EH-101 maritime helicopter program and gutted the Canadian Forces. Didn’t retired Gen. Rick Hillier call Chretien’s time in office, the “Decade of Darkness”?
Leslie also warned Kennedy-Glans that the Liberal government won’t meet their NATO pledge to spend two per cent of GDP on defence. And in the May 12 interview with the National Post, Leslie revealed he was talking to Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s team about defence strategy and that he found them, “receptive, aware and focused.” “You can quote me on that,” Leslie said to Kennedy-Glans.
On July 12, Poilievre confirmed he won't commit to meeting the two per cent NATO defence spending target if he becomes prime minister. The Conservative leader said he won’t make promises he can’t keep.
The Conference of Defence Associations Institute promoted its “Expert Series” interview in a July 12 email blast. Readers were invited to listen to “expert” the “Hon. David MacKay on Canada's Reputation at NATO Summit.” That actually turned out to be former Defence Minister Peter MacKay being interviewed by the CDA’s Josh Malm.
Those who tuned into the 28-minute segment got to hear MacKay complain about how Canada is a laggard in defence spending, how the Liberals won’t meet the two per cent GDP spending target and how the military needs a “steadfast commitment from government” on spending.
What the CDA didn’t bother to point out is that this is the same Peter MacKay who served in a government that cut defence spending and was led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who despite agreeing to the two per cent GDP NATO spending directive, actually admitted in 2014 he had no intention to meet that goal.
