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.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
