If Canadians had the opportunity to choose between spending their precious tax dollars on expensive new warplanes and warships or on projects that would enrich their lives, undoubtedly they would choose the latter. This is one of the underlying choices that is part of the Government of Canada’s Defence Review that was announced on April 6th. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that many Canadians will participate, because other than the Ottawa Citizen’s coverage, the mainstream press has to date ignored the issue.
Just how much money is at stake? The cost of the proposed new warships and warplanes add up to $150-billion, when the full life-cycle costs are included. The purchase price for military ships is estimated to be $26.2-billion, when the cost of maintenance, operating and personnel costs are added, the estimate balloons to $90-billion. In addition, $15-billion is needed for the arctic patrol ships. An audit by KPMG estimated the full costs for the proposed F-35 warplanes to be $45-billion. Despite promises made during the election to cancel the procurement, the Trudeau government is staying in the bidding process with a $32.9-million (US) payment to remain in the program.
Despite these alarming estimates, the Defence Review does not address the proposed spending, but instead obfuscates the issues by posing questions that focus on principles rather than specifics. Some of the questions that citizens are being asked include: are there any threats that are not being addressed; what role should Canada have in the defence of North America; what should be the size, shape and composition be of the Canadian Armed Forces; and what resources are required.
Canada made smart decisions to not get involved in two unjust and immoral wars, Vietnam and Iraq. Yet, it was dragged into Afghanistan, where we needlessly lost precious lives and wasted billions of dollars. And now that we finally have left this war-torn country, the fighting goes on and will likely continue for many decades more. The seemingly never-ending chaos in the Mideast is a direct result of the Iraq war that began under false pretenses and resulted in hundreds of thousands of lives lost and over a trillion dollars wasted. The current campaign to eradicate ISIS has no end in sight and primarily benefits the weapons manufacturers that provide arms to all sides.
Canada can do better than follow its NATO partners into battles that have little bearing on our actual security here. Our role in world conflicts should be limited to providing support to the United Nations in peacekeeping actions. New, expensive warplanes and warships will not make us safer. In fact, as technology continues to improve, massive war machines are being replaced with drone and satellite technology.
Saying no to the purchase of warships and warplanes would provide us with a true peace dividend by allowing for greater spending on projects that matter most to Canadians. Lowering, or even better, eliminating the costs for post-secondary education would put Canada in the same league as many European countries and do far more to improve our society that wasting billions on the military. There is no end to the list of programs where increased funding is needed, from infrastructure, to parks, to fisheries, to health care and to eliminating poverty.
Climate change is a far greater threat to Canada’s security that Mideast terrorists. The planet is now entering a new phase as global warming intensifies. As we face more intense storms, forest fires, droughts, increased diseases and mass migrations; the Canadian military should be retrained and re-equipped to better respond to disasters and provide assistance to those in need.
Fortunately the new federal budget does focus on just what Canadians need most and it does not include funds for military expansion. War profiteering lobbyists are crying foul and are increasing the pressure to put more money into big-ticket military purchases. The Trudeau government needs to hear loud and clear that their “sunny ways” should include reducing its military might rather than increasing it. Yet progressives in this country are more focused on stopping pipelines and moving to a carbon free future, as the anti-war movement has withered.
In January, after my column on this topic was published in the Ottawa Citizen, I launched a petition that states, “We, the undersigned, urge the new Trudeau government to cancel Stephen Harper's plans to purchase over $50-billion worth of warships and warplanes and instead invest the money to improve the lives of Canadians.” (My estimate of the potential costs was far off at that time!) So far 904 people have signed the petition, which is significant considering that few people have been able to see it.
Ideally, progressive activists will take this issue to heart and get involved by signing the petition and responding to the Defence Review. The deadline for input is July 31st. There are a number of ways that Canadians can become involved in the Review: using the online form, attending one of six round-table meetings, joining a discussion forum or hosting a consultation event in their own communities. There is no doubt that the military-industrial complex will be working hard to get their views known, so hopefully progressive Canadians will become engaged as well to counter the war profiteers.
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