Canada’s former chief of the defence staff says he’s glad to see a renewed urgency in Ottawa to boost defence spending given the ever-increasing global threat environment, which he describes as “unpredictable” and even “crazy.”
Retired general Wayne Eyre, in his first interview since leaving the top military post last year, says the “sheer number of conflicts and wars around the world” has made the need for Canada to invest in its national defence ever more critical.
“The rules-based international order that for so long provided the guardrails against large-scale international conflict — those have been eroded, and what’s emerging we don’t know yet, but it is much more dangerous and this transition period is rife for miscalculation,” he told Mercedes Stephenson in the interview, which aired Sunday on The West Block.
“We have chaos reigning around the world. It’s crazy out there.”
Eyre made the comments shortly after Israel launched strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities and killed Iranian military commanders in an attack late last week. Iran soon retaliated by striking the Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
That conflict is unfolding amid Israel’s ongoing military offensive in Gaza, while Russia continues to ignore international efforts to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine. Fighting is also raging in other parts of the Middle East and Africa.
Eyre said he remains most concerned about the alignment between Russia and China, both of which have sought to gain entry into the Arctic. He said the “disregard for sovereignty” and the proliferation of nuclear technologies by hostile actors are threats that “we need to be very worried about.”
Eyre was replaced as leader of the Canadian Armed Forces by Gen. Jennie Carignan, who stood next to Prime Minister Mark Carney last week as he announced the federal government will invest over $9 billion in defence this fiscal year.
Carney said the investment will ensure Canada meets NATO’s defence spending target of at least two per cent of GDP — a goal Carney had previously said wouldn’t be met until 2030.
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“Defending the country is the top role of a government. Everything else is secondary,” Eyre said.
“The realization of that, given the increasingly dangerous world that we’re in, that was excellent to see.”
The new defence spending plan will focus immediately on boosting pay and benefits for Canadian military members, as well as the restoration of bases and existing equipment.
Eyre, who warned while serving as chief of the defence staff about Canada’s military readiness, said focusing on people and infrastructure was particularly important to restore that capability.
“You can buy all the nice, new, shiny equipment you want, but if you don’t have the people, the infrastructure, the components of readiness that go into making a capability work, it’s useless,” he said.
He added that “it’s going to take some time” to restore that readiness, however, “because we have had decades of hollowing out of the Canadian military, and you can’t just fix that overnight.”
“What we need, and I am detecting it, is a sense of urgency to get us ready to face this increasingly dangerous world.”
Carignan has said her top priority is boosting recruitment to the armed forces. Nearly 7,000 people joined Canada’s military over the last year, the government said last week, exceeding recruitment goals and marking a 10-year high in enrolment.
Canada will face further pressure to ratchet up its defence spending at this month’s NATO summit, where allies will be asked to agree to a new target of 3.5 per cent of GDP with an additional 1.5 per cent on broader security-related investments, for a total of five per cent.
U.S. President Donald Trump has pushed NATO members to boost defence spending to five per cent and take on more burden-sharing for the military alliance.
Eyre said the entire federal government and all political parties must remain committed to ensuring Canada’s renewed defence investments are sustained into the future, as well as educating Canadians on why they are needed.
“We’ve got to be in this for the long run,” he said.
“We can’t just be doing it because our allies berate us. We have to be doing it for the right reason, and that’s to defend Canada against some very, very real threats.”
Ottawa also says the procurement of new equipment will prioritize Canadian defence manufacturers as well as partners in Europe in a bid to diversify away from reliance on the United States.
In an interview that also aired Sunday on The West Block, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said talks with the U.S. on securing a new security and economic partnership include the recent defence investments.
Yet he stressed that any co-operation with the Americans is contingent on removing tariffs on the Canadian economy.
“Our obvious desire is to work on that partnership with the Americans,” he said.
“At the same time, as they’re hammering our automobile, steel and aluminium sectors, those border tariffs (related to issues of) fentanyl and illegal migration — which has, thank God, been massively, massively reduced if not resolved — why would those tariffs and the threat of those tariffs still remain in place?”
Eyre said a “mesh” between investments in U.S., European and Asia-Pacific defence partnerships is in Canada’s national security interest given the unpredictability in Washington.
“Alliances are predicated on certainty, and if there is uncertainty, that raises the question as to how reliable an ally is,” he said.
“In my belief, we need to hedge. We need to have a diverse group of allies, partners and friends … because we just don’t know what the future is going to bring.”
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