What if Canada Were Conservative?
America's Hat Could be Warm Comfort
This is a very Canadian post.
The probable next Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, outlined his “Canada First Plan for the North”…all while wearing a tuque, as a Canadian should. You can watch it yourself in the video at the further down the post if you wish (don’t worry, I will start it at the English language part, and not the French opening because it is Québécois French, something no one really can understand anyway), but here are the highlights as I see them.
Canada’s Arctic is under threat. 75% of Canada’s coastline is in the far north, and 40% of her landmass. Canada needs to become self-sufficient.
In the fall of 2022, the Canadian military found Chinese monitoring buoys in the Arctic.
A Royal Canadian Navy frigate shadowed a Chinese research vessel in the Bering Strait off Alaska last year (thank you RCN friends, we don’t have any frigates nor naval bases in Alaska because…our leaders don’t understand much outside Norfolk, San Diego, or the Potomac).
Russia is building new bases and infrastructure in the Arctic.
Canada will take back control of Canadian waters, sky, and land.
The Canadian military today is weakened and her allies no longer respects her.
Canada does not have a permanent military presence in the Arctic.
When Prime Minister, he will increase Canadian forces by:
Doubling the size of the Canadian Rangers from 2,000 to 4,000 Rangers.
Acquire two additional polar heavy icebreakers for the Royal Canadian Navy by 2029 on top of the two current icebreakers being built for the Canadian Coast Guard.
Will build Canada's first permanent Arctic military base since the Cold War. It will be CFB Iqaluit. 100% of the cost of the base will come out of the Canadian foreign aid budget and will be up and running within two years of Poilievre becoming Prime Minister.
New submarines.
Bringing wasted foreign aid back to Canada.
If Canada wants to be a sovereign, self-reliant nation, it must take control of their north, secure its borders, and stand on its own two feet.
Canada cannot count on the Americans to do it for them.
Further on in this speech, Poilievre speaks out strongly against some of the statements of President Trump and his administration, and that is fine for me. Were I Canadian, I would say very similar things. This is OK. Friends can have disagreements now and then, but for every one item that causes friction, we will always have nine items that bring us together.
It’s all good.
I cannot give a stronger endorsement to both Poilievre and his plan. It is exactly what the moment needs.
A militarily strong Canada is a great benefit to the national security of the USA and NATO. Like the USA, Canada is a natural maritime and aerospace power. Unlike the USA, as we covered last week, Canada is woefully underspending on defense. She has tremendous potential to significantly increase her contributions to North American, NATO, and Canadian security by increasing to and above 2% GDP on defense. If she leveraged that additional spend towards her comparative advantage at sea and in the air, there is nothing but good that will come of it for everyone.
Side Note: the primary weapon for the Canadian Rangers is the Colt Canada C19, a license-built, Finnish-designed Tikka T3 CTR bolt-action rifle that is on my buy list.
In addition to bolstering its forces, Canada is the country which should unite with Greenland.
First, it would create a more contiguous polity within the Inuit nation, uniting with Inuit in Nunavut, the Northwest Territory, and Yukon. The structures of autonomy Greenlanders might want are already present in Nunavut.
Second, the Greenlanders would be uniting with another country with universal health care and a strong social welfare system like Denmark, so the disruption to their lives would be minimal.
Third, Canadian mining companies have the capacity to better exploit Greenland's natural resources in an environmentally-conscious way.
Fourth, Canada is also a member of NATO of course.
Just a couple of thoughts... First, isn't it amazing how Liberals become Conservatives when physically threatened? Second, the Colt Canada C19 (Tikka T3 CTR) is the epitome of the Scout Rifle concept pushed by Jeff Cooper, a WW2 and Korean War Marine. Though they may want to add an easily demountable or flip-mount LPVO for those longer shots across the glaciers. So, Canada, you're welcome.