Monday, July 28, 2025
No Result
View All Result
  • Media
Support Us
Macdonald-Laurier Institute
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy
      • Economic Policy
      • Justice
      • Rights and Freedoms
      • Assisted Suicide (MAID)
      • Health Care
      • COVID-19
      • Gender Identity
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • AI, Technology and Innovation
      • Media and Telecoms
      • Housing
      • Immigration
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Competition Policy
    • Energy Policy
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy
      • Israel-Hamas War
      • Ukraine
      • Taiwan
      • China
      • Europe and Russia
      • Indo-Pacific
      • Middle East and North Africa
      • North America
      • Foreign Interference
      • National Defence
      • National Security
      • Foreign Affairs
    • Indigenous Affairs
  • Projects
    • CNAPS (Center for North American Prosperity and Security)
    • The Promised Land
    • Voices that Inspire: The Macdonald-Laurier Vancouver Speaker Series
    • Dragon at the Door
    • Canada on top of the world
    • Justice Report Card
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • Double Trouble
    • Digital Policy & Connectivity
    • Managing Indigenous Prosperity
    • Defending The Marketplace of Ideas
    • Reforming the University
    • Past Projects
      • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
      • The Transatlantic Program
      • COVID Misery Index
        • Provincial COVID Misery Index
        • Beyond Lockdown
        • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
      • Speak for Ourselves
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
      • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
        • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Inside Policy
  • Libraries
    • Columns
    • Commentary
    • Papers
    • Books
    • Video
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy
      • Economic Policy
      • Justice
      • Rights and Freedoms
      • Assisted Suicide (MAID)
      • Health Care
      • COVID-19
      • Gender Identity
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • AI, Technology and Innovation
      • Media and Telecoms
      • Housing
      • Immigration
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Competition Policy
    • Energy Policy
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy
      • Israel-Hamas War
      • Ukraine
      • Taiwan
      • China
      • Europe and Russia
      • Indo-Pacific
      • Middle East and North Africa
      • North America
      • Foreign Interference
      • National Defence
      • National Security
      • Foreign Affairs
    • Indigenous Affairs
  • Projects
    • CNAPS (Center for North American Prosperity and Security)
    • The Promised Land
    • Voices that Inspire: The Macdonald-Laurier Vancouver Speaker Series
    • Dragon at the Door
    • Canada on top of the world
    • Justice Report Card
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • Double Trouble
    • Digital Policy & Connectivity
    • Managing Indigenous Prosperity
    • Defending The Marketplace of Ideas
    • Reforming the University
    • Past Projects
      • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
      • The Transatlantic Program
      • COVID Misery Index
        • Provincial COVID Misery Index
        • Beyond Lockdown
        • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
      • Speak for Ourselves
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
      • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
        • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Inside Policy
  • Libraries
    • Columns
    • Commentary
    • Papers
    • Books
    • Video
No Result
View All Result
Macdonald-Laurier Institute

Reviving the military is risky political business, but the threats facing Canada are far worse: Martin Green and Christopher Coates in the Globe and Mail

Canadian defence policy since the end of the Cold War has done more to either manage allies’ perceptions of Canada, or solve domestic issues, than it has to contribute to the country’s actual security.

July 10, 2025
in National Security, Latest News, Columns, Foreign Policy, National Defence, In the Media, Christopher Coates
Reading Time: 6 mins read
A A
As China threat rises, the days of Canada as security freeloader are over: David McDonough in the National Post

Photo by MS Dan Bard, Canadian Forces Combat Camera, Canadian Armed Forces via Flickr.

This article originally appeared in the Globe and Mail.

By Martin Green and Christopher Coates, July 10, 2025

Canada’s new Prime Minister has got “swag.” Mark Carney saved the Liberal Party from the abyss and came out of the election with a de facto majority. Not only that, he has made welcome and long overdue noises on resuscitating the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) – noises that have been sustained through the King’s Speech from the Throne, the G7 Summit and the NATO Summit. These are positive signs, but business as usual will not be good enough. Canada’s new Prime Minister and his cabinet will need to get comfortable accepting much more financial, political, institutional and reputational risk if they are to bring the CAF back to life.

However hazardous it feels for our political leaders to stick their necks out and make the required investments in the CAF, failing to do so would be the greater risk in a world where Canada, its citizens, and its interests are increasingly on the frontline. Canada faces significant vulnerabilities in its defences, and Canadian society has become increasingly exposed to risks from foreign and/or domestic threats. We are, to a greater extent than ever, part of the attack surface for a plethora of worrisome trends and threats.

Canadian defence policy since the end of the Cold War has done more to either manage allies’ perceptions of Canada, or solve domestic issues, than it has to contribute to the country’s actual security. The result is a Canadian military that has almost no ability to deter threats, a limited ability to actually defend Canada or North America, and marginal relevance to our principal allies. It has also led to an atrophied and beyond-frustrated Canadian defence industrial base that is ready, willing and able, but stymied by a lack of clear signals from our government. Most would also agree that the CAF is light years behind in the training, capabilities, and kit that are required on the modern battlefield. Recent advanced operations by the Ukrainians and the Israelis should force us to realize how far behind we’ve fallen.

The Canadian government has a pathological inability to accept any political risk in the development of our military, which has forced the CAF to accept more operational risk. Our armed forces have been left to deal with either the failed delivery of equipment, or equipment that fails to deliver. Just like political correctness causes governments to favour process over outcomes, the Canadian government’s risk aversion has generated a military without the ability to do its fundamental job of deterring adversaries and defending the country. Indeed, this avoidance of risk has perversely become systemic, and even rewarded.

In our own lives, we all deal with risks to one degree or another. But managing risk is what military leaders have traditionally excelled at; it is their core responsibility to make the best of the situation, whatever it may be, and whenever a challenge arises.

Military leaders are schooled in the management of risks, and apply their education in the field, whether as a sergeant leading a section in training, as a captain working alongside first responders fighting forest fires, or as a commodore leading a Canadian naval task group in patrolling the North Atlantic. In all these cases, military leaders assess potential threats, analyze their mission, and account for the time available amid myriad other variables. They then put people, equipment and other resources toward minimizing the risks and maximizing the effects.

The risks that military leaders address are typically divided into two groups: those concerning their mission (the chances that their assigned task will not be achieved), and those concerning their forces (the chances that lives will be lost, or other harms will be experienced by their people and organizations). Risk to mission and risk to force – those are ultimately the factors contributing to the decisions they make. If these leaders do not have the personnel they need, or the right equipment, that can translate into an increased risk that they’ll either be unable to accomplish their goal, or be unable to do so without lives lost.

An example of this was the Canadian mission in Afghanistan, particularly between 2004 and 2008. The mission required that Canadian troops patrol and move along roads or routes in their area of responsibility, but the use of improvised explosive devices by the Taliban was a devastating and increasingly deadly threat. Leaders did their best to balance risks and mission imperatives, but despite doing so, many Canadians still lost their lives while conducting operations. Following the recommendations in the Manley Report, the Canadian government assigned more resources to Afghanistan, including critical aviation equipment needed specifically for Afghanistan. The CAF reduced the risk to force, which allowed more of the mission to be completed.

A similar balancing act takes place at the policy level, but because of a lack of necessary resources (and a lack of risk-taking at the political level), the Canadian military is accepting increasingly higher levels of risk related to its ability to deter attacks or protect our sovereignty.

The critical point for the new Canadian government to take to heart is that the bureaucracy’s privileging of process, finances, reputation and other factors has led to an increased risk of broader mission failure, and to operational risks for the Canadian Forces. Put bluntly, the risk-averse bureaucratization and politicization of defence policy has left Canada undefended, and our under-resourced forces in danger.

The status quo of our risk-averse procurement policies has been shown to fail over and over again – examples include the failed or delayed delivery of shipboard helicopters, search-and-rescue aircraft, submarines, fighter jets, drones, cyber capabilities, close-combat vehicles (CCV), the integrated soldier system project and much more. The results have caused the military to frequently accept exceptional levels of risk in operations, or to simply be unable to deliver on their goals. But the government emerges relatively unscathed. All the reputational (and physical) risk is borne by the military, and this is not sustainable.

As our new Prime Minister and his cabinet take on this “risky business,” it will become clear that the 2-per-cent-or-higher NATO defence-spending target is only a belated starting point. The new government will also realize that the slow response to national security and defence issues over the last few decades will require much-improved communications with Canadians at large, whose political buy-in is required to move forward on such immense challenges. Any meaningful success must also include a new risk paradigm with respect to procurement and private-sector partnerships.

The new government needs to accept increased institutional risk -financial, administrative, political and reputational - to ensure the CAF is fit for purpose. Rebalancing the equation is essential in preparing the CAF for the challenges of the 21st century, and in establishing deterrence and defending our country.


Martin Green is a former senior national security and intelligence officer for the Privy Council Office.

Lieutenant-General (Ret’d) Christopher Coates is the director of foreign policy, national security and national defence at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

Source: The Globe and Mail
Tags: Martin Green

Related Posts

I’m a war scholar. There is no genocide in Gaza: John Spencer on X
The Promised Land

I’m a war scholar. There is no genocide in Gaza: John Spencer on X

July 28, 2025
Something has to give for universities that are fighting for their survival: Peter MacKinnon in the National Post
Reforming Universities

Something has to give for universities that are fighting for their survival: Peter MacKinnon in the National Post

July 28, 2025
Muslim Brotherhood’s ‘grand jihad’ is growing— just over the US border: Casey Babb and Joe Adam George in the New York Post
North America

Muslim Brotherhood’s ‘grand jihad’ is growing— just over the US border: Casey Babb and Joe Adam George in the New York Post

July 28, 2025
Next Post
The grand bargain: A path to prosperity, security, and strength

Grand Bargain report charts a path to prosperity, security, and strength for US and Canada

Newsletter Signup

  Thank you for Signing Up
  Please correct the marked field(s) below.
Email Address  *
1,true,6,Contact Email,2
First Name *
1,true,1,First Name,2
Last Name *
1,true,1,Last Name,2
*
*Required Fields

Follow us on

Macdonald-Laurier Institute

323 Chapel Street, Suite #300
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 7Z2 Canada

613.482.8327

info@macdonaldlaurier.ca
MLI directory

Support Us

Support the Macdonald-Laurier Institute to help ensure that Canada is one of the best governed countries in the world. Click below to learn more or become a sponsor.

Support Us

  • Inside Policy Magazine
  • Annual Reports
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy

© 2023 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Privacy Preference Center

Consent Management

Necessary

Advertising

Analytics

Other

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy
      • Economic Policy
      • Justice
      • Rights and Freedoms
      • Assisted Suicide (MAID)
      • Health Care
      • COVID-19
      • Gender Identity
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • AI, Technology and Innovation
      • Media and Telecoms
      • Housing
      • Immigration
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Competition Policy
    • Energy Policy
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy
      • Israel-Hamas War
      • Ukraine
      • Taiwan
      • China
      • Europe and Russia
      • Indo-Pacific
      • Middle East and North Africa
      • North America
      • Foreign Interference
      • National Defence
      • National Security
      • Foreign Affairs
    • Indigenous Affairs
  • Projects
    • CNAPS (Center for North American Prosperity and Security)
    • The Promised Land
    • Voices that Inspire: The Macdonald-Laurier Vancouver Speaker Series
    • Dragon at the Door
    • Canada on top of the world
    • Justice Report Card
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • Double Trouble
    • Digital Policy & Connectivity
    • Managing Indigenous Prosperity
    • Defending The Marketplace of Ideas
    • Reforming the University
    • Past Projects
      • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
      • The Transatlantic Program
      • COVID Misery Index
      • Speak for Ourselves
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
      • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Inside Policy
  • Libraries
    • Columns
    • Commentary
    • Papers
    • Books
    • Video

© 2023 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.

Lightbox image placeholder

Previous Slide

Next Slide

Share

Facebook ShareTwitter ShareLinkedin SharePinterest ShareEmail Share

TwitterTwitter
Hide Tweet (admin)

Add this ID to the plugin's Hide Specific Tweets setting: