Ukraine’s long-standing pleas — and prayers — for advanced Western weapons are beginning to be answered as Canada announced Thursday it plans to send dozens of brand-new armoured personnel carriers to the embattled country.
It is part of an overall push by NATO, which has said it will help the eastern European country convert to a modern military kit.
At the conclusion of the NATO leaders summit in Madrid, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada is working on finalizing a deal to provide Ukraine with 39 armoured combat support vehicles (ACSVs). They had been destined for the Canadian Army and were in the process of being delivered, but instead will be diverted.
“The light armoured vehicles we will be sending over will be extremely effective,” Trudeau told reporters as the summit ended. “We’re just glad to help and we’re going to continue to look and respond to things that they need.”
Trudeau pledged the Canadian Army, especially in light of decisions at the NATO summit, will not go without.
“Stocks for the Canadian military will be replenished as quickly as possible,” he said. “We need to make sure that the women and men of the Canadian Forces have the equipment they need to continue their mission and step up as necessary. We also recognize that the best use, right now, of things like howitzers and sniper rifles and all of the other equipment we’ve been sending to Ukraine — the best use for Canadian security, for geopolitical stability — is to put them in the hands of Ukrainians.”
In addition, the Ukrainians will get an additional six high-resolution cameras for use on their highly effective, Turkish-built Bayraktar drones, which have become lauded for their accuracy in taking out Russian tanks and armoured personnel carriers.
The deal to provide armoured support vehicles, which are meant exclusively for troop transport, will come with a support, in-service package and be provided by the manufacturer General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada, based in London, Ont. They are different from infantry fighting vehicles, which come equipped with a turret and 25-millimetre cannon.
The Canadian Army had ordered 360 of the armoured support vehicles and a senior government official, speaking on background before the announcement, said there is a commitment to replace what is being taken out of the army’s stock.
The source said the vehicles are expected to be in service with Ukrainian troops this summer, after a bit of training.
The latest donation of equipment will effectively exhaust the $500 million the Liberal government set aside for military gear to support Ukraine.
WATCH | Canada will increase the number of its troops in Latvia as NATO boosts its presence in Europe:
Canada to add troops as NATO boosts European presence
15 hours ago
Duration 2:02
Canada will increase the number of its troops in Latvia as NATO increases its presence in Europe and the U.S. sends ships to Spain.
The announcement comes a day after it was announced that Canada had signed a deal with Latvia to help bolster the NATO battle group in the Baltic country to bring it up to brigade size, as alliance leaders have mandated.
Trudeau said that decision will mean the commitment of additional Canadian troops.
NATO vows to bolster Ukraine’s military supplies
It was part of a series of historic decisions made over a two-day summit of leaders of the Western military alliance in Madrid.
“A strong independent Ukraine is vital for the stability of the Euro-Atlantic area,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said while briefing the media late Wednesday.
His remarks came after what was a blistering video address to alliance leaders by Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky, whose country has for more than a dozen years been trying to join NATO.
NATO’s Chair of the Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, right, talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the start of the session during the NATO summit on Thursday in Madrid. The alliance has agreed to arm Ukraine with more modern military equipment. (Christophe Ena/The Associated Press)
He asked them: Has Ukraine “not paid enough” to join the alliance? His remarks came on the same day as Finland and Sweden were put on the fast track to join the alliance.
“We will help Ukraine transition from Soviet-era equipment to modern NATO equipment, boost interoperability and strengthen its defence and security institutions,” said Stoltenberg.
Ukraine has lost tanks, armoured personnel carriers
CBC News has learned that NATO planners and U.S. officials are looking at how to switch the Ukrainians to modern battle tanks from the older Soviet-style T-72s and T-80s they’ve been fighting with.
An older model Russian T-72 tank sits burned out and destroyed in the village of Biskvitne, east of Kharkiv. It was wrecked in fighting with Ukrainian troops, who retook the area in April 2022. (Murray Brewster/CBC)
Although the Ukrainians will not confirm the number, defence experts estimate a little less than half of Ukraine’s tank force has been lost in combat, along with two-thirds of their armoured personnel carriers.
Additionally, there have been reports that suggest the U.S. has purchased a modern National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System for Ukraine — similar to the one that already protects the U.S. capital.
It would boost Ukraine’s ability to protect its skies from Russian aircraft and cruise missiles.
The country is currently using older Soviet-built systems, such as the S-300 long-range missile batteries.
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.
