Canada’s politics and the military

by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU. CHISU, CD, PMSC, FEC, CET, P. Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East While many things are happening in the world in quick succession, some interesting things are evolving in Canada too. On the political side, we are sensing some sings of panic in the Liberal minority government. On the military side, a continuous lack of funding for infrastructure and equipment and frequent changes at the chief of defence staff level serve to further weaken an already struggling organization. In a landmark ruling, the Federal Court found that the issuance of the Proclamation and associated Regulations and Order under the Emergencies Act used to disperse Freedom Convoy protestors, was unconstitutional and unreasonable and exceeded the act’s intended scope. The court highlighted violations of the Charter rights, specifically encroaching upon freedom of thought, opinion, and expression, along with an infringement on the right to security against unreasonable search or seizure. The Federal Court decision also touched upon special economic measures taken by the Trudeau government to freeze the bank accounts of Freedom Convoy organizers and protesters. Justice Richard Mosley rejected the government’s claim that freezing the accounts represented minimum impairment under the Economic Measures. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland who just returned from the World Economic Foundation (WEF) summit in Davos where she is a trustee, has announced the government’s intention to appeal. “So we are aware of the court decision. We have discussed it with the Prime Minister, with Cabinet colleagues, with senior federal government officials and experts. We respect very much Canada’s independent judiciary. However, we do not agree with this decision. And respectfully, we will be appealing it,” said Freeland. “I was convinced at the time, it was the right thing to do. It was the necessary thing to do. I remain and we remain convinced of that,” Freeland re-iterated when asked about the special economic measures. Leaving this evolving political scenario for the moment, let us take a look on what is happening or what should be happening in our military. In view of the extensive military action around the world, in which Canada is also called upon to contribute, the status of our military is of concern. Lack of political attention and lack of adequate funding have been problems for decades. The leadership of the armed forces is in disarray and more interested in politics than looking to strengthening our armed forces in a very dangerous world. Emerging technologies in the contemporary period are developing at a rapid pace. Artificial intelligence, for example, is quickly changing the ways in which we gather and interpret data. Failure to adopt technologies means that the Canadian military risks being deployed in future operations against adversaries who have existing access to such modern technologies. However, technology will not revolutionize operations by itself. Its effective implementation will require new ideas about how it can be used. Senior Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) leadership should foster and maintain a feedback loop among officers concerning their views on the introduction of emerging technologies. Special attention should be paid to military engineering skills, which seem to take the headlines today. One of the main outputs of a new technologically inclined organizational culture would be the generation of new ideas towards doctrine, strategies and operational methods. Essentially, leadership needs to enthusiastically embrace the introduction of the new technologies and focus on it instead of other issues. A realistic field experience is also an incredibly important element of the innovation process. This will unfold either during active operations or through major training and tabletop exercises. It will allow officers to gain as much direct experience with the emerging technologies as possible, which in turn can help allow the officers to build trust and acceptance about its usage. It is best if this can occur prior to the start of any major conflict as learning during combat operations carries the risk of greater numbers of causalities. Overall, undergoing realistic field and tabletop exercises are the best ways for a military to judge the success of innovation efforts during peacetime as they will provide CAF leadership with direct evidence and data. Success will be determined by analyzing the CAF’s performance during the exercises to identify if the new technologies allowed for new or more effective operational methods to unfold in terms of lethality, speed, or other metrics of efficiency. To help evaluate the success of new technologies the CAF should also continue to participate in as many multinational allied field exercises as possible, as they allow the CAF to evaluate whether the new technologies have helped bolster their interoperability capabilities, which have been prioritized as a goal for the CAF. Considerations beyond operational effectiveness will always be taken into account when evaluating the impact of innovation efforts. States will often be politically motivated by a broad variety of intentions, such as a desire to be seen as a more reliable ally. However, sometimes-complicated situations may unfold where new technologies help the military meet certain goals, but not others. For example, new technological investments may create new interoperability opportunities, which satisfy certain political considerations. At the same time they may also hamper the operational effectiveness of the military. Leadership will eventually need to articulate and prioritize which goals they want to use to measure the success of innovative efforts. The current generation of technologies are continuously evolving, while militaries now also face a growing need to focus on multi-domain operations. These blur the lines between conflict and peacetime, and so faster solutions are required to meet the demands of these combined challenges. To mitigate costs during complex innovative efforts under such circumstances, defence officials need to lay as much foundation for change as possible to avoid any organizational obstacles that can further constrain the integration process. Building such a foundation will allow the Canadian defence community to approach new technologies in a less risk-averse manner and quicken the decision-making cycle. Technological innovation requires new methods of management to allow the CAF to meet current and future challenges. Civilian and military leadership will need to engage in quicker decision-making cycles and reform the equipment procurement process to allow for the rapid acquisition of emerging technologies. This however requires funding, which is nowhere to be seen, and the Minister of Defence, Bill Blair, with his only extensive experience in policing and no military background, does not seem interested in fighting for some. What are your thoughts?