'Hugely important': Former defence ministers and spy chief urge government to prioritize defence

More than 60 former military, security and political officials are renewing calls for the federal government to increase its defence spending, amid reports the prime minister privately told NATO allies Canada will never meet its spending commitment of two per cent of GDP on defence.

In an open letter published earlier this month, those officials claim that due to years of restraint and cuts, Canada's defence capabilities have “atrophied,” and that its “military capabilities are outdated and woefully inadequate to protect our landmass and maritime approaches.”

The letter came just days before the Washington Post stated that, according to leaked Pentagon documents, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau privately told allies that Canada will never hit its defence spending targets.

Canada has long faced calls to increase its defence spending to two per cent of its GDP, the agreed-upon target by NATO members as part of the Wales Summit Declaration in 2014. It currently sits near the bottom of the list of member countries, spending just shy of 1.3 per cent of GDP on defence last year, according to the NATO Secretary General’s last annual report.

For the past 20 years, and under previous governments, spending has hovered between one and 1.4 per cent of GDP.

Trudeau reiterated this week that Canada is a “reliable partner to NATO,” but did not say whether Canada will meet the two per cent target, and did not dispute the Washington Post reporting.

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Three of the letter’s signatories spoke with CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Sunday to discuss their calls for the government to boost defence spending.

Former Conservative national defence minister and former Alberta premier Jason Kenney said the level of global insecurity is “extremely high,” citing as examples the increasing “military assertiveness” of superpowers like Russia and China.

“We cannot take a permanent holiday from history,” Kenney said. “We've always been able to downplay defence because we live under the American defence umbrella but our allies rightfully expect us to play our part,” he said.

Kenney also said the risk remains that Russia’s war in Ukraine could spill over into neighbouring NATO countries, which would implicate Canada, and there are still bubbling tensions in the South China Sea that could impact Canada’s shipping routes, he added.

Kenney said it’s vital Canada reassures allies that it can carry its weight, namely by bolstering its defence capabilities.

“It's hugely important,” he said. “This is the practical way by which our seriousness is measured as an ally.”

“Sadly, I think many of our allies have just sort of almost given up on Canada as a serious player,” Kenney said, adding foreign governments appreciate the professionalism of Canada’s troops and the level of their training, but that equipment shortages are a serious problem.

David Pratt, a former Liberal defence minister, said there are several impediments to Canada putting more money into defence, including political reluctance, sexual harassment cases affecting recruitment, and personnel shortages in military procurement.

“If by some magic sleight of hand, the government were to come up with billions of dollars for defence, the Department of Defence right now could not spend that money productively, in my view,” he said. “So there's a whole lot of issues that have to be dealt with internally.”

“In fairness to the people who are serving in the department right now — and there are many, many dedicated and professional members in uniform, and civilians — they didn't create the problems that we're having right now,” he said. “These have evolved over decades, and it's going to take some time to fix them as well. And I think that's what the minister is focused on.”

Richard Fadden, a former CSIS director and national security adviser to Trudeau and former prime minister Stephen Harper, said it’s up to officials to prepare Canada to meet the needs of the current global threat landscape, whether or not it is popular with voters.

“I think over the years, it's become very clear that Canadians, absent of major crises, don't care a great deal about national security and national defence, and politicians, not being fools, registered that there are not a lot of votes in this area,” he said. “The world is becoming sufficiently unstable that whether or not there's a lot of popular interest in national security and national defence, our government has an obligation to take these changes seriously.”

Fadden said although the Trudeau government has made several defence spending commitments — including to purchase 88 new F-35 fighter jets, and to modernize Norad — those announcements will not come to fruition for several years to come.

Canada also needs to invest in time-sensitive operations needs, Fadden said, including training and recruitment.

“Everybody I've spoken to in the last little while, who represents a foreign government in one shape, form or other, not just the United States, thinks we're not pulling our weight,” Fadden said. “And if the balloon, to use a very old expression, does go up eventually, we're going to be in really bad shape, because our operational capabilities, as David (Pratt) was saying, is much, much weaker than it was even five years ago.”

Pratt, Kenney, and Fadden discuss their call for the federal government to bolster Canada’s defence systems and spending in the video at the top of this article.

With files from CTV’s Question Period senior producer Stephanie Ha