Time to admit the obvious: the CAF’s status quo isn’t working

OTTAWA—It is hard to imagine that less than two decades ago, the Canadian military was named “newsmaker of the year” by Maclean’s magazine. This recognition was admittedly due to the steady stream of casualties our battle group was suffering in the war in Afghanistan, echoed by the drumbeat of war-mongering pundits arguing that this sacrifice would someday all be justified. Canada fully withdrew from that conflict in 2014, and three years ago, the Taliban were victorious in driving the United States-led coalition out of Afghanistan. Which means there is absolutely no way for the armchair generals to spin the sacrifice of our soldiers—158 killed, 2,000 wounded or physically injured, and thousands more suffering the unseen wounds of PTSD—into anything but a tragic waste. Since that juncture, the Canadian military largely slipped from the news feed. Canada did briefly support a United Nations mission in Mali, and the CAF deployed CF-18 fighter jets and special forces trainers to battle Daesh (a.k.a. ISIS or ISIL) in Iraq. Since 2015, hundreds of Canadian military personnel have been actively training Ukrainian soldiers. Originally, this was done in Ukraine. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, this training has been conducted in the United Kingdom and in Poland. Canada also forward-deployed a battle group into Latvia in 2017 as part of NATO's Operation Reassurance to deter further Russian aggression. However, as these missions—other than one friendly-fire fatality in Iraq—have been mercifully bloodless, they do not garner headlines. Unfortunately, the old adage “if it bleeds, it leads” remains a truism in the media world. As such, when the CAF does find itself in the spotlight these days, it is for its ongoing existential shortcomings in personnel, inadequate and outdated equipment, or failures in leadership at the most senior levels. It does not take a Sherlock Holmes-level detective to connect the dots and to realize that these three factors combine to create an almost perfect storm, or as Defence Minister Bill Blair recently described it, a “death spiral” for the CAF. The statistics show that Canadians are still willing to join the CAF. Last year, some 70,000 people submitted applications, yet just more than 4,000 were actually processed due to a bureaucratic backlog of security clearance checks. Of course, even if the clerks could cut through this Gordian knot and proceeded to bring in the more than 16,500 personnel needed to make up the current shortfall in the CAF regular force and reserves, there are not enough trainers available to put this many recruits through basic training. Should that hurdle be somehow cleared, the question becomes what do we equip them with to make them combat capable? In the early days following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Canada scraped up all available equipment, armoured vehicles, weaponry, and—most crucially—ammunition, and shipped it to Ukraine. The problem is that, to date, no effort has been made to replace this inventory in Canada's depleted arsenals. Former chief of defence staff General Wayne Eyre briefed Parliament on the staggering fact that, at present, Canada has only about two days’ worth of artillery shells if we were to expend it at the rate of fire we see in the Ukraine war. To date, we have provided 10 Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, which leaves pitifully few such tanks operational in Canada. Without realistic training for our own combat forces, how is Canada to continue providing trainers for the Armed Forces of Ukraine? Without the personnel shortfall being addressed post haste, how can Canada continue to furnish a battle group in Latvia, let alone expand that unit to a full brigade in the near future? The solution will only come from senior leadership convincing the Liberal government of just how dire the circumstances currently are. The recruits are out there, and the trainer shortage can be addressed through lucrative bonuses offered to recently released veterans. As for the equipment vacuum, officials need to do what Canada did during the Afghanistan conflict. They need to admit that the procurement system is broken, and forget about looking at all major purchases as a regional job-creation program. When we needed howitzers for Afghanistan, we took used M-777s from the U.S. Marine Corps, and bought them new guns as replacements. When we needed Leopard 2 tanks, we borrowed them from the German military stocks. We needed heavy-lift helicopters, so we bought six very-used Chinook choppers from the U.S. that were already in theatre. Those who point to Canada's performance in Afghanistan as some sort of proof that Canada's military procurement system works just fine are dead wrong. The only reason our battle groups had the gear and munitions they needed was because, out of necessity, we begged and borrowed from our allies. As embarrassing as it may seem for a G7 nation to find itself this desperate, it is time to start the begging again. Scott Taylor is the editor and publisher of Esprit de Corps magazine. The Hill Times

Time to admit the obvious: the CAF’s status quo isn’t working

The solution to the military’s woes will only come from senior leadership convincing the Liberal government of just how dire the circumstances currently are.

Canada’s aging crisis and a call for reform in eldercare

As COP29 wraps up, will Canada finally stop funding fossils this fall?

Addressing the threat of antimicrobial resistance

The wisdom of Homer Simpson and Aaron Sorkin

Climate finance should target resilient food systems

Trump’s ‘America First’ plans may undermine global trade

Making the Canadian military fighting fit again

The Canadian military is in worse shape than the numbers indicate

If Canada’s already at war, our military is far from battle ready

Standing with Ukraine requires sound training, not scrapyard leftovers

Canadian troops vital to Ukraine effort, but aren’t superhuman

News

Get free news updates

Opinion

Submit a guest opinion article

resources

Advertise

subscribe

get help

Get free news updates

Submit a guest opinion article

Time to admit the obvious: the CAF’s status quo isn’t working

The solution to the military’s woes will only come from senior leadership convincing the Liberal government of just how dire the circumstances currently are.

Get The Weekend Point of View Newsletter