By Scott Taylor
On Monday April 8, Minister of National Defence Bill Blair unveiled the Liberal government's long awaited Defence Policy Update (DPU). Titled 'Our North, Strong and Free' the new policy outlines a significant spending increase and promises to acquire some very specific new capabilities and equipment for the Canadian Armed Forces.
“Through this policy, Canada will invest $8.1 billion over the next five years and $73 billion over the next 20 years in our national defence,” Blair stated in the DPU.
In terms of equipment acquisitions, the DPU shopping list includes; early warning aircraft, tactical helicopters and new long range missiles for the Army.
The government plans to buy specialized maritime sensors to improve ocean surveillance as well as build a new satellite ground station in the Arctic. The DPU blueprint includes plans to establish additional support facilities in the Arctic for military operations. Also referenced, albeit without detail, is a new fleet of submarines for the Royal Canadian Navy.
There will be a major investment in domestic ammunition production to replace those stocks of artillery shells which Canada donated to Ukraine. Having learned their lesson from that war, Canada also plans to significantly increase the Army's strategic reserve of ammunition.
Due to the numerous delays to the Canadian Surface Combatant program a large sum of money has been set aside to keep the RCN's aging Halifax-class frigates operational until the new Type 26 destroyers eventually enter service.
With a nod to the fact that the modern battlefield is evolving into new domains, the DPU focussed on improving the CAF’s ability to conduct cyber operations. The government plans to establish a Canadian Armed Forces Cyber Command. Also to be pursued, is a joint cyber operations capability with the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) Canada's secretive, Ottawa-based electronic intelligence gathering organization.
While not as sexy as the wish list of futuristic weaponry and spy gizmos, the DPU also set aside increased funding to address the construction of affordable housing for military personnel. That was about the only item to address the most pressing issue which is currently crippling the CAF: the combined retention failure/recruiting shortfalls which have resulted in woefully depleted ranks.
You can buy all the weaponry in the world, but it will be useless if there is no one left in uniform to use it.
As for what all this will mean for the actual future of the CAF, a few polite reminders might help put things in perspective. First of all, this DPU was initially announced by the Liberal government back on April 7, 2022 as an 'urgent' necessity in the immediate aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. That was nearly two years to the day before they actually tabled this DPU. That is not an 'urgent' response in any universe.
At the DPU technical briefing last Monday, it was confirmed that prior to making the details public in Canada, Minister Blair had first briefed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to get his blessing. Apparently Blair also pre-briefed US Ambassador to Canada David Cohen. Those who follow Canadian military affairs closely will be well aware that both NATO and the US have been pressuring Canada to increase defence spending to the NATO alliance target of 2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
This new DPU projects a massive increase from Canada's current annual defence budget of $30 billion to a staggering $50 billion by the end of this decade. However, thanks to Canada's robust economy that will only put us at the 1.76 per cent GDP mark. In other words, closer but still no cigar from Stoltenberg.
Perhaps the most important detail to remember is that this is a projected 20-year plan, which is unlikely to survive any change in government. To coin the old phrase 'I'll believe it when I see it'.
