Canada can be a “leader” among the NATO military alliance in providing Ukraine with armoured vehicles as its war with Russia continues, the national defence minister says.
Since the full-scale war began on Feb. 24, Ottawa has committed more than $600 million in military assistance to Ukraine, including equipment like drone cameras, artillery rounds and satellite communications.
With western nations vowing to continuously arm Ukraine as the conflict drags on, Canada can become a major provider of armoured vehicles by turning to its domestic manufacturing sector for assistance, Anita Anand said, pointing to two Canadian firms providing them so far.
“In terms of vehicles, I’ve asked my colleagues across the NATO alliance to think about Canada as a leader in this area because what we are providing to Ukraine are brand-new vehicles fresh off the line to make sure that Ukraine has best-in-class technology,” Anand said in an interview for The New Reality, Global News’ current affairs program.
1:26 Canada can be ‘leader’ in providing Ukraine with armoured vehicles: Anand
Over the last several Ramstein-style defence meetings, Anand said Ukraine’s allies have agreed military aid to the country needs to be divided among allies according to their unique capabilities.
Anand told Global News that she has had conversations with Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg about Canada’s armoured-vehicle manufacturing industry.
“In terms of military aid going forward, we will continue to be that leader. We are recognized as such by Minister Reznikov, by Jens Stoltenberg, and what Ukraine needs now is an all-hands-on-deck moment.”
2:32 G7 leaders vow to back Ukraine ‘for as long as it takes’
However, whether Canada is up to the task of becoming such a leader in providing those armoured vehicles remains a key question, some Canadian defence experts suggest.
“Armoured vehicles, land vehicles are a key focus of the defence industrial base in Canada. So it’s no accident that’s what one of the things we ended up sending to Ukraine, a country that needs virtually everything for its military,” said David Perry, president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
Perry described the technology as “one of the few final assembly weapon systems that are actually produced in this country.”
“There’s certainly, I think, opportunity for that segment of the Canadian industry to be more present in Ukraine or across Europe even,” he added. “But there’s a lot of things would have to happen in a very competitive market landscape for that to happen.“
Lt.-Col Mark Popov, a former armour officer who commanded a Canadian combat team in Afghanistan, said Anand had offered “a very ambitious statement,” but one lacking details.
“Canada simply does not have the ability to manufacture massive amounts of armoured vehicles and become a world leader in this compared to our own NATO allies, and some other non-allied countries out there that manufacture military equipment.”
When Anand met with Stoltenberg and other NATO defence ministers earlier this month, she announced a $47-million, new military aid package that included $15.2 million in equipment from the Canadian Armed Forces’ inventory, including 155-mm NATO-standard artillery rounds.
One of 39 ACSVs being sent overseas as part of Canada’s latest round of military aid for Ukraine.
Ottawa has previously dipped into the Canadian Armed Forces inventory to provide military equipment to the Ukrainian military, and has vowed to replenish it; the Liberal government has faced calls to boost defence spending to meet NATO’s target of spending two per cent of GDP on the military.
The Liberal government spent an estimated 1.36 per cent of Canada’s GDP on the military last year, with only four other NATO members having spent less: Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Spain. Canada’s defence spending increased 67 per cent between 2014 and 2021, with about half of that spent on personnel, according to a June 9 parliamentary budget office report.
“Canada has lagged on so many commitments of capability, not just raw spending for the ability of the Canadian Armed Forces,” Popov said.
“It’s not the people: the sailor, soldiers and aviators of the Canadian Forces do an amazing job with what they have, but they have not been properly equipped or supported with the right capabilities that this world requires that we’re seeing are needed in real-time on the news every day coming from Ukraine.”
An added challenge is the upcoming winter season in Ukraine, where the conditions can be very rough, said Richard Shimooka, a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
Armoured combat support vehicles are “not going to be as effective” in that weather, which is notorious for its amount of mud, he said.
“We’re not really giving them as much as we could, or we should, so to speak, and it’s far less ideal than what’s required,” Shimooka said.
Popov believes Canada should focus on providing equipment that is “necessary to keep soldiers and sailors and aviators alive” during the cold.
3:41 Abandoned Russian military base holds secrets of retreat in Ukraine
The gear includes sleeping bags, parkas, windproof/waterproof outer garments and space heaters, he said. In fact, as part of Ottawa’s recent aid announcement, it said it would be shipping winter clothing to Ukrainian troops.
At the end of the day, Popov wants Ottawa to be “realistic in its outlook and for our citizens to be realistic in theirs.”
“Canada leading armoured vehicle purchase provision to Ukraine is ludicrous, quite honestly,” he said.
“We need to get off the fence and be serious about this as Canadians and our government needs to start being realistic, providing not only Ukraine, but also domestically its own armed forces with the capabilities required.”
NANAIMO, B.C. – Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney will present his vision for the Liberals’ economic policy when he meets with MPs in Nanaimo, B.C., today.
The party announced Carney’s new role as chair of a Liberal task force on economic growth as MPs arrived for the caucus retreat Monday, where they are planning their strategy for the upcoming election year.
Carney will be reporting directly to the prime minister and the committee responsible for drafting the Liberal election platform.
The former bank governor’s comments will be made privately to caucus, but he is expected to address the media afterwards.
The Liberals have made other attempts to focus on economic and affordability issues since taking a major hit in the polls last year, but those efforts haven’t resonated in the polls.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is also expected to address his caucus as a whole for the first time since several of his MPs have expressed privately and publicly that he is not the person to lead the party into the next election.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
The Israeli Government is carrying out a Starvation Campaign against the People of Gaza, or so says Democracy Now and the United Nations. While multiple trucks filled with humanitarian supplies and food wait to enter Gaza, the Israeli Forces hold them back for inspection and security reasons, so few enter this region of crisis.
Well over a year has passed as Israeli Forces continue to besiege Gaza claiming to be trying to eliminate Hamas as a military force. What many journalists, international politicians and Middle Eastern Specialists see is a nation-state military trying to drive millions of Palestinians out of their homeland by whatever means possible. Airstrikes, and tank and armoured vehicle movements strive to destabilize life in Gaza and make these native residents fear for their lives and very survival. Similar actions were carried out by the Germans when they invaded Poland long ago. Military actions have seemed to remain the same, as to their purpose. Eradication of the “Palestinian Problem” has been the goal of the Netanyahu Government all along, seizing Gaza for Israeli use and driving the perceived Palestinian threat away for good.
The United Nations special rapporteur on the right of food Michael Fakhri accused Israel of carrying out a starvation campaign against a civilian population. This action is internationally viewed as criminal and answerable to the International Courts in the Hague. 2.2 million people in Gaza need food urgently and they are being treated as pawns within a game of international intrigue and conflict management by the superpowers and their allies.
Look to the American elections as a time when Israel will open the doors to humanitarian aid just as election day arrives. Israel’s leader Netanyahu is a friend of former president Trump. Interesting idea?
Steven Kaszab
Bradford, Ontario
skaszab@yahoo.ca
Note: Remember when Iran held American Hostages only to release them just before a election. That action empowered Ronald Reagan to victory. Interesting methodology of Republicans eh?
WASHINGTON – One of Canada’s most influential business lobby groups is warning Ottawa about damage to the relationship with the United States after the Biden administration escalated efforts to halt the federal government’s tax on large foreign digital services companies.
The Business Council of Canada called for the digital services tax to be revoked after the Office of the United States Trade Representative requested dispute settlement consultations under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement.
In a Sept. 9 letter to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and International Trade Minister Mary Ng, Goldy Hyder, the council’s president and CEO, said retaliatory measures by the U.S. would be harmful to Canadian families, businesses and the economy, while also negating any projected tax revenues.
Hyder cautioned the tax could also be destructive to Canada’s relationship with the U.S. ahead of the review of the trade agreement in 2026.
“In successive meetings with senior U.S. officials, we have been repeatedly told that if Canada’s unilateral DST remains in place it will imperil the upcoming mandatory review of the CUSMA,” Hyder wrote.
Americans have been critical of the three per cent levy on foreign tech giants that generate revenue from Canadian users. It means the companies will have to pay taxes on that revenue in Canada.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, after requesting dispute consultations in August, called the tax discriminatory and said it is inconsistent with Canada’s commitments not to treat U.S. businesses less favourably than Canadian ones.
If the two countries are unable to resolve America’s concerns within 75 days, the U.S. may request a dispute settlement panel to examine the issue.
Ng and Freeland have remained steadfast behind the tax. They said last month that consultations under the trade agreement’s dispute mechanism will demonstrate Canada is meeting its obligations.
Hyder said Ottawa’s strategy will neither address nor assuage U.S. concerns. Instead it will risk undermining the trade agreement and “our most important trade and investment partnership,” he said.
The digital tax was part of the Liberal election platform during the 2019 campaign. Both the Conservatives and New Democrats proposed similar levies.
The Liberal government, however, delayed its implementation in order to give more time to global efforts to establish a broader, multinational taxation plan.
But after significant delays to that process at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Canada went ahead with its own tax.
The Canadian ministers have said the preference has always been a multilateral agreement.
Greta Peisch, the former general counsel for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, said concerns around Canada’s approach to the tax have been raised for a long time.
“I think the United States has been clear about how serious it is,” said Peisch, a partner at Wiely Rein in Washington, D.C.
“The argument is not that you can’t have a DST, it’s just that it should be neutral and not be inconsistent with our trade agreement.”
Peisch said the issue is around global revenue. Canada’s tax applies to foreign and Canadian digital services providers that earn total annual revenue from all sources of 750 million euros or more, and annual Canadian revenue more than $20 million a year.
Peisch explained American’s issue with the tax: if two companies provide the same service and have the same revenue from people in Canada, the foreign company will be treated differently.
“We have commitments in our trade agreements not to discriminate based on national origin among the trade agreement partners, that would be inconsistent with our trade obligations,” Peisch said.
The digital services tax has drawn opposition from trade associations and business groups on both sides of the international border.
Last month, Google announced it will implement a 2.5 per cent surcharge for ads displayed in Canada starting in October. Groups representing Canadian advertisers have warned other companies could follow the tech giant’s lead.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
