Amidst Donald Trump’s belligerence Canada continues to assist the US military and arms industry. In response to Donald Trump’s hostility Canada should cancel all major US arms procurement, officer exchanges and NORAD.
Just before leaving office Justin Trudeau said Trump wants to sabotage Canada’s economy in a bid to annex the country. “What he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy, because that’ll make it easier to annex us,” said the then Prime Minister. Subsequently, the New York Times reported that Trump told Trudeau he wanted to redraw the countries’ border.
In response to Trump’s threats many Canadian nationalists are calling for a big boost in military spending. The National Observer’s lead columnist Max Fawcett recently said, “it’s probably time for Canada to bump its military spending to 5% of GDP” while commentator Dean Blundell noted, “Canada needs to re-arm, recruit and sign strategic security deals worldwide while figuring out how to get the [atomic] bomb.” During the recent Liberal leadership debate both Chrystia Freeland and Karina Gould criticized eventual winner Mark Carney for not committing to their (near impossible) plan to boost military spending to 2 percent of GDP in two years (Carney committed to five years).
While each have slightly different motivations for seeking increased military spending, there’s no credible anti-Trump, nationalist, argument for boosting the military that doesn’t include decoupling from the US military. As I detail in Stand on Guard for Whom: A People’s History of the Canadian Military, Canada’s forces act as an extension of the US empire. Last month Université du Québec à Montréal political science professor Justin Massie told Le Devoir, “Ourforces are designed like Lego bricks that fit into another piece.” A Canadian battalion, he noted, is designed to be inserted into a US or international brigade. “We have a sample army to ‘patch’ holes,” Massie added.
The man seeking to annex Canada appears to agree. Trump has repeatedly demanded Ottawa increase military spending. If the US president thought the Canadian Forces were a check on his annexationist plans, he probably wouldn’t seek to strengthen them.
Instead of blissfully echoing Trump’s call to increase military spending on a force structured to assist the Pentagon, Canadian nationalists should oppose paying tens of billions of dollars to US arms giants. Canada must reevaluate all major arms procurement from the US. Support for paying $19 billion to Lockheed Martin for F-35s unravelled rapidly as information came to light about US control over its software and hardware upgrades, giving the US an effective “kill switch” on fighter jets that will cost $74 billion over their lifecycle. After an embarrassingly timid initial response, the NDP has called for scrapping both the purchase of 88 F-35s and a $6 billion Boeing P-8A intelligence aircraft deal.
But, there are other deals that need to be looked at. According to the Ottawa Citizen, the “U.S. controls many of the key systems onboard Canada’s new warships, allowing the Americans to hold this country hostage over future upgrades or even the provision of spare parts.” A US firm was contracted for the command management system, which controls the weapons and intelligence-gathering equipment, for Canada’s $80 billion Surface Combatants.
It shouldn’t be controversial to reconsider paying tens of billions of dollars to US military giants as part of responding to an annexationist president’s economic siege. Halting these payments would send a message to the two most powerful arms firms in the US. It would also send a message to the Pentagon since Canada chose these weapons systems largely to be more “interoperable” with the US Air Force.
According to the Department of National Defence, there are “80 treaty-level agreements, more than 250 memoranda of understanding, and 145 bilateral forums on defence” between the two countries’ militaries. Ottawa should pause/cancel some of these accords to communicate disapproval with US trade and annexation threats. Under NORAD the Colorado-based US commander of the accord could deploy Canadian fighter jets based in this country without any express Canadian endorsement. Instead of continuing the Liberals’ plan to spend tens of billions of dollars on bolstering NORAD shouldn’t we be questioning Canada’s participation in the accord?
While canceling NORAD may be a step too far for mainstream politicians, there’s a host of less controversial, cost free, measures Ottawa can adopt to signal displeasure to the Pentagon. How about a pause in officer exchanges until Trump stops threatening annexation? Or what about halting US arms testing in Canada until the president stops pursuing his economic siege? Or how about discontinuing joint naval patrols in far flung oceans until Trump stops referring to Canada’s Prime Minister as governor?
It makes little sense to bolster the military of a country whose president is seeking to annex Canada.
Please email the minister and opposition critics to pause officer exchanges with Trump’s USA.
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