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REMEMBRANCE DAY: REBUILDING CANADA’S MILITARY

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7 minute read

From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy

By Brian Giesbrecht | David Redman

 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
………..If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

This is the iconic poem written by John McCrae while World War 1 raged, shortly before he too became one of the 40,000,000 million or so people who died during that horrific, meat grinder of a war.

More than 61,000 Canadian soldiers, like McCrae, died in that awful war, and at least 170,000 were seriously wounded – many losing limbs and eyes.

And only a few decades later, World War 2 – really just a continuation of that first European civil war – took in excess of 40,000 more Canadian lives. Canadians were fighting against pure evil. Most were young men struck down in what should have been the prime of their lives

These brave men fought to safeguard the freedom and values that Canada stands for. That Canada didn’t start in 1867. It was formed long before then in a crucible of ancient Greeks, the Jews of Jerusalem, through the Roman Empire, the building of Britain, and the enlightenment. Not every Canadian soldier could articulate every nuance of exactly what that long journey that created Canadian freedom stood for, but they certainly knew why they were willing to sacrifice their lives to preserve what they loved. John McCrae knew exactly what he was fighting for, and he paid the ultimate price.

But what about his challenge to Canadians of today? Have we accepted that torch from failing hands, and held it high?

Or have we broken faith with those who died to save the Canada that he and so many others gave their lives for? What would John McCrae think of Canada today?

Let’s take a look first at Canada’s armed forces. During McCrae’s time, and right through WW2, and the Korean War that followed, Canada punched well above its weight internationally. Canada had a strong army, and our leaders were universally respected. Prime Minister Lester Pearson became the first and only Canadian Prime Minister to win a Nobel Prize for his deft handling of the Suez crisis.

Canada continued to stand strong on the international stage into the 1960s. Our military was strong, Canadian leaders were respected, and we contributed our fair share to our international commitments, such as NATO.

Then came the Pierre Trudeau years. The integration of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in February 1968, while supposedly to increase efficiency, was in fact a brutal exercise in cost cutting, reducing the Army, Navy, and Air Force strengths from over 105,000 to 70,000. The senior Trudeau even wanted to take Canada out of NATO, and was only dissuaded from that bit of insanity by dire warnings from advisers, and threats from allies that doing so would have dire consequences for Canada, domestically and internationally.

The 1980s saw a return to the common-sense realization that Canada must support its armed forces. Total strength of the combined armed forces was expanded to 85,000, and commitments to NATO were honoured. Canada once again was respected by its allies, and once again Canada was punching above its weight on the international stage. In fact,  the Mulroney government’s contribution to the ending of South African apartheid was one of our finest hours.

Canada’s armed forces once again felt supported and respected.

But that was then. And this is now. Canada has gone from that place of respectability to a very low place indeed. And virtually everything that has been done since the Justin Trudeau Liberals took power in 2015 has made things so much worse. Slash and burn is probably the best way to describe their military policy. A series of cuts since 2015 have rendered our armed forces virtually toothless. The latest cruel decision to cut a further one billion dollars from the armed forces can almost be seen as an in-your-face insult to our people in uniform.

Canada still has proud and capable men and women in our armed forces. But they are being emasculated by an uncomprehending government that insists on using Canadians’ hard-earned money for every Woke cause in the book – everything except our defence needs. We now completely rely on the Americans to defend us. We have extremely diminished capacity to honour our NATO commitments. Our international partners no longer take us seriously.

I think we can safely say that John McCrae would not be impressed with what has been done with his beloved army, and our reputation abroad.

The current federal government has no interest in rebuilding our debilitated armed forces. In fact, the Prime Minister candidly admitted that he has no intention of even trying to meet Canada’s NATO commitments.

Under his leadership only further cuts to our armed forces can be expected.

As stated in the National Post, there is simply not enough money to fund both a strong army, and the Trudeau government’s socialist pet projects. So, the army must go begging.

However, the current government will not be here forever. Planning must begin now to rebuild our forces, honour our international commitments, and regain our rightful place on the world stage.

In 1967, Canada proudly celebrated the centenary: a country to be proud of for our freedom, peace and internal unity. These values had been bought with the blood of our youth. Today, Canada is no longer considered a trusted ally. Until our nation takes national security seriously, Canada will remain irrelevant, both externally and internally.

Brian Giesbrecht, retired judge, and David Redman, retired Lieutenant Colonel in Canadian Army, are Senior Fellows at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy

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eteran Affairs Canada took steps to conceal its promotion of euthanasia: report

Published on

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

In 2,220 pages of documents obtained via an access to information request by Rebel News, records show that Veterans Affairs Canada took steps to avoid a paper trail after suffering service members accused the department of promoting euthanasia.

The federal department in charge of helping Canadian veterans appears to have purposefully prevented the existence of a paper after scandalous reports surfaced alleging that caseworkers had recommended euthanasia to suffering service members.

In 2,220 pages of documents obtained via an access to information request by Rebel News, records show that Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) chose to use verbal updates, as opposed to written updates, when speaking to senior staff, seemingly to prevent the creation of a paper trail related to allegations that department caseworkers were recommending Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) to veterans instead of offering them full treatment.  

The documents and their contents come after a number of veterans, who were dealing with acute post-traumatic stress disorder, came forward saying that their caseworkers told them they should apply for MAiD. 

Indeed, the original delay in expanding MAiD for those suffering solely from mental illness came after numerous public scandals surrounding the deadly program, including the surfacing of reports that Canadian veterans were being offered the fatal procedure by workers at VAC. 

VAC Minister Lawrence MacAulay claimed at the time that there was only one caseworker who was responsible for the MAiD scandal, however, this appears not to be the case. 

According to Rebel News’ reporting of the documents, “On page 21, we can see in the media lines that Veterans Affairs officials were planning to claim there were no other incidents of Veterans Affairs staff telling veterans to kill themselves. They had to remove that from their talking points because other veterans came forward.” 

It appears that staff claimed the other cases were only incidents in which veterans were inquiring about whether MAiD would prevent them from getting benefits after their death, as is the case in suicide.  

A quote from page 31 reads, “Veterans may approach VAC following their decision to pursue medical assistance in dying. In those cases, Veterans Affairs helps the veteran and the family understand their benefits as well as other sports services that may be relevant to the veteran’s unique circumstances.”

On page 679, real evidence of a “cover up” begins to show itself, reported Rebel News, with records showing VAC media staff saying that only verbal updates should be issued: “recommendation to keep the updates verbally to a limited distribution but will follow DMO 0SD’s preferred format and frequency.” 

Page 2,125 reads, “Hello all, it’s interesting to follow the thrice-daily media report emails to see how far the main story is traveling. Yesterday, it was reported by a couple of US news outlets, and today, it is in the UK Daily Mail.” 

“It is interesting to see how much coverage it’s getting,” the VAC staff added, also noting, “I had wondered if there would be anyone else to come out of the woodwork to say it had happened to them too but so far nothing (thankfully).” 

LifeSiteNews recently published a report noting how a Canadian combat veteran and artillery gunner revealed, while speaking on a podcast with Dr. Jordan Peterson, that the drugs used in MAiD essentially waterboard a person to death. 

Euthanasia first became legal in Canada in 2016 for those with terminal illness. Since then, the eligibly criteria has been loosened to allow the chronically ill, not just the terminally ill, to qualify for death.  

Desiring to expand the procedure to even more Canadians, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government sought to expand from just the chronically and terminally ill, to those suffering solely from mental illness. 

However, in February, after pushback from pro-life, medical, and mental health groups as well as most of Canada’s provinces, the federal government delayed the mental illness expansion until 2027. 

The number of Canadians killed by lethal injection since 2016 stands at close to 65,000, with an estimated 16,000 deaths in 2023 alone. Many fear that because the official statistics are manipulated the number may be even higher.  

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Trudeau pledges another $500 million to Ukraine as Canadian military suffers

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From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Despite the nation’s own armed forces grappling with an alarming recruitment crisis, Justin Trudeau and his government have poured over $13.3 billion into Ukraine.

More Canadians tax dollars are being sent overseas as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised an additional $500 million in military aid to Ukraine. 

During a July 10 meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trudeau announced that he would send another $500 million to Ukraine as it continues its war against Russia, despite an ongoing decline in Canada’s military recruitment.  

“We’re happy to offer we’re announcing today $500 million more military aid this year for Ukraine, to help through this very difficult situation,” Trudeau said. 

In addition to the $500 million, Canada will also provide much of Ukraine’s fighter jet pilot training as Ukraine receives its first F-16s. 

Trudeau’s statement comes after Canada has been under fire for failing to meet NATO’s mandate that all members commit at least two percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) to the military alliance. 

According to his 2024 budget, Trudeau plans to spend $8.1 billion over five years, starting in 2024-25, and $73.0 billion over 20 years on the Department of National Defence.   

Interestingly, $8.1 billion divided equally over five years is $1,620,000 each year for the Canadian military. Therefore, Trudeau’s pledge of $500 million means he is spending just under a third on Ukraine compared to what he plans to spend on Canadians.  

Indeed, Trudeau seems reluctant to spend money on the Canadian military, as evidenced when Canadian troops in Latvia were forced to purchase their own helmets and food when the Trudeau government failed to provide proper supplies.  

Weeks later, Trudeau lectured the same troops on “climate change” and disinformation.       

However, at the same time, Trudeau readily sends Canadian tax dollars overseas to Ukraine. Since the Russia-Ukraine war began in 2022, Canada has given Ukraine over $13.3 billion, including $4 billion in direct military assistance.    

In May, Trudeau’s office announced $3.02 billion in funding for Ukraine, including millions of taxpayer dollars to promote “gender-inclusive demining.”  

Trudeau’s ongoing funding for Ukraine comes as many Canadians are struggling to pay for basics such as food, shelter, and heating. According to a recent government report, fast-rising food costs in Canada have led to many people feeling a sense of “hopelessness and desperation” with nowhere to turn for help.  

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