In an interview on Rosemary Barton Live on Sunday, Eyre said the two issues represented “strong demands on both sides” and, given issues with equipment and personnel shortages, he was “concerned about our overall readiness.”
“Our national prosperity is underpinned by our ability to defend the rules-based international order. But our national prosperity is also underpinned by our ability to fight these disasters at home,” he said.
“I’m concerned about our ability to respond at scale at [the] speed required. And so we’re working on addressing elements of our readiness, whether it’s people, whether it’s training, whether it’s equipment … everything else that makes us able to respond with the right size and the right speed.”
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Canada has sent substantial quantities of military equipment to help the Ukrainian armed forces, much of it coming from stockpiles meant for the Canadian military. Additionally, the military has raised concerns about its ability to recruit new members — influenced by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and sexual misconduct scandals — and is facing personnel shortages.
Demand for CAF in domestic operations rising as more troops deployed to Fiona-hit areas
Rosemary Barton Live speaks with Gen. Wayne Eyre, Canada’s chief of the defence staff, about the Canadian Armed Forces’ efforts in Quebec and Atlantic Canada following post-tropical storm Fiona. Eyre says the domestic demand for the military has been increasing, making him concerned about its ‘overall readiness’ and ability to ‘respond at scale and at speed required.’
Defence Minister Anita Anand said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live last week that all NATO countries need to strike a balance between shipping weapons to the front lines in Ukraine and making sure Canada’s own forces are well-enough equipped to be able to respond.
“This is front and centre on my mind,” she said.
Asked whether he was concerned about the replenishment of the forces’ equipment, Eyre replied on Sunday: “I sure do.”
“We need to replace our existing stocks with a sense of urgency, and we need to continue to support Ukraine with that same sense of urgency,” Eyre said.
Ukraine has repeatedly said it needs all the weapons it can get to fight off the Russian attack, as Ukrainian forces recapture some territory in the country’s east and south. In an interview on Rosemary Barton Live airing Sunday, Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s defence minister, reiterated the need for equipment.
“Regardless of how much we receive, we need more. But we understand that our allies at the moment understand our needs very well. And this is why the domestic defence industry, enterprises and plants, they are now beginning to be geared toward the future needs of the Ukrainian army.”
A dedicated disaster relief force?
Eyre also responded on Sunday to the question of whether Canada should create a dedicated disaster relief force, a key question in the wake of post-tropical storm Fiona. About 700 CAF members are currently on the ground helping with cleanup in several Atlantic provinces, Eyre confirmed.
He said the CAF would always be the “ultimate insurance policy” in case of disaster, but he noted that “with the increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters, there’s more capacity that’s required.”
Cpl. Brandon McRae of the Cape Breton Highlanders removes brush under the direction of Nova Scotia Power officials in the wake of post-tropical storm Fiona, in Glace Bay, N.S., on Sept. 26. (Vaughan Merchant/The Canadian Press)
Members of the military told MPs earlier this week that the forces were having trouble meeting recruitment goals and were short as many as 10,000 people.
The chief of the defence staff suggested that giving municipal and provincial governments additional resources would allow them to more effectively respond to natural disasters on their own — but even with that, Eyre said he anticipates the military would still be involved in providing relief as disasters become more frequent and severe.
In interviews on CBC Radio’s The House, which aired on Saturday, experts were split on the need for a separate force. Retired lieutenant-general Guy Thibault, former vice-chief of the defence staff and current chair of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute, agreed with the need to boost the capacity to respond at lower levels of government.
Peter Kikkert, assistant professor of public policy and governance at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S., argued in favour of a permanent, paid civilian workforce that could be trained in a variety of adaptation and response needs.
In the wake of post-tropical storm Fiona, with military members on the ground to help with cleanup, The House speaks with experts about whether Canada needs a dedicated disaster relief force.
“That kind of permanent paid workforce, I think that would attract a lot of people who maybe would like to kind of serve in this kind of domestic entity but are not interested in the other kind of responsibilities that come with joining the armed forces,” he said.
Anand said earlier this week that while the CAF is being called on more frequently, “our ability to co-ordinate with provincial and local organizations is becoming increasingly effective and efficient, and at this time the system is working well.”
Eyre also said the military would soon be putting out a revised policy for COVID-19 vaccinations. The military has the last remaining federal vaccine mandate after the government suspended other mandates this summer.
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.
