Click on the image below to see a video about the Canadian Military in Shambles under Justin Trudeau’s negligence of our forces! Canada’s military under Justin Trudeau is in a shambles! 40 year old fighter jets, 30 year old ships, close to 20 year old tanks…everything our military men and women have to use is outdated and obsolete. Instead of concentrating on defending our country, Trudeau spends about $200 billion on green energy inititatives that don’t even accomplish their goals! He is as incompetent as can be…. or just evil. Take your pick. Treason! Click on the image below to see a Video about removing Wokeness from the Military Communists want to feminize males and empower Wokeness in a society in order to weaken it. One of their targets is the military. The Freedom Party of Canada will remove all elements of Wokeness that have infiltrated our military under the Trudeau regime! We will create a strong fighting force with excellent equipment, not the weak woke force with equipment that is obsolete that Trudeau has created. The world will know if they end up in a battle with Canada, they’re in a real battle, not against a bunch of weak pushovers!!! Ottawa Pledges $73 Billion in New Defence Spending With Focus on Arctic (Epoch Times, 4/8/2024) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged $73 billion in new spending for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) over 20 years as part of the upcoming federal budget, saying that Canada will shift its military focus to Arctic security. Trudeau and the Liberals have had 8 years to think about Arctic Security and have done absolutely nothing! Trudeau is scrambling spending like money is going out of style in order to win back votes as he is getting decimated in the polls by the Conservatives. Remember he promised to build a pipeline…. he spent over $1 billion and not one foot of pipeline has been laid. Enough said! He can’t be trusted. All smoke and mirrors. Canadian Armed Forces 26 Percent Below Target Strength: Defence Dept. (Epoch Times, 4/10/2024) The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is 26 percent below target readiness levels, according to a Department of National Defence briefing note. The CAF is able to recruit just 7,600 new members per year on average and current force strength is at 63,000 people—well below the target of 71,500, says the note published last December and obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter. Of the 63,000 members currently enrolled only 52,707 are fully trained, the document noted. A report entitled “Evaluation Of Ready Air And Space Forces,” published in March of 2023, said that recruitment within the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) was of particular concern, and that “the RCAF is experiencing a personnel crisis linked to both recruitment and retention.” Another issue for the CAF has been increasing attrition levels, with challenges retaining soldiers and personnel. In order to address the personnel crisis, the CAF has recently change its rules to allow for recruitment of immigrants with permanent residency status. Ottawa had previously touted the program as a way for those immigrants to expedite their path to Canadian citizenship. “Enrolment of permanent residents will help us grow our military with qualified, well- trained people who choose a career in uniform,” former Defence Minister Anita Anand said in 2022. Meanwhile, according to a briefing note made public this year, just 77 applicants of the 21,472 permanent residents who applied to join the CAF have successfully enlisted. The note clarified that it was more difficult to enlist permanent residents as the process for validating their security clearance took longer than it would for Canadian citizens. Defence Minister Bill Blair spoke out last month regarding the recruitment crisis saying, “Over the past three years, more people have left than have entered.” “That is frankly ... it’s a death spiral for the Canadian Armed Forces, we cannot afford to continue on that pace,” he added. Mr. Trudeau also referenced Canada’s new defence strategy, entitled “Our North, Strong and Free: A Renewed Vision for Canada’s Defence.” The document states that the CAF will be changing and modernizing its recruitment strategy, including streamlining security clearance processes and re-evaluating medical requirements. Wow… is it any wonder our military is failing over the last 50 years and particularly under Justin Trudeau? He has spent more money on Ukraine’s military than Canada’s and has given our military equipment to Ukraine… I call that Treason! Some of the ideas above are just pathetic! The numbers in our armed forces are demonstrating the “negligence” that Canadian governments have shown for our armed forces! Above they say they want to bring in Permanent Residents and to help them become citizens (which will drastically reduce housing and spike inflation even further) and then they say they can’t get any to sign up (only 77). Then they say it takes longer due to security reasons… Well no shit Sherlock….you don’t know who these people are and if they are friendly or foes to your country and then you want to entrust them with military secrets? More Treason! Under our government only Canadian citizens will be allowed in the Canadian military! Soldiers Dismissed Over COVID Shot Refusal Get Waiver for Re-Enrolment (Epoch Times, 4/23/2024) Soldiers who refused COVID-19 vaccination were expelled as “unsuitable” to serve, but now a barrier for their re-enrolment has been dropped. The Department of National Defence (DND) has confirmed to The Epoch Times the five-year waiting period for re-enrolment was waived last November by the Canadian Forces Recruiting Group. The waiver does not apply to all releases under item 5(f) “unsuitable for further service,” but only those pertaining to COVID-19 vaccination refusal. Those veteran candidates, if they re-apply, will still need to obtain a waiver from the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), because he authorizes all re-enrolments from soldiers who were released under 5(f). CDS General Wayne Eyre imposed a vaccination mandate on his troops in October 2021, in line with the public service. He was caught in an administrative conundrum because policy did not allow the non-voluntary placement of non-complying soldiers on leave without pay like public servants. Gen. Eyre also elected not to consider vaccination refusals as a breach of section 126 of the National Defence Act. This would have afforded refusers the ability to defend themselves before a court martial. Those veteran candidates, if they re-apply, will still need to obtain a waiver from the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), because he authorizes all re-enrolments from soldiers who were released under 5(f). CDS General Wayne Eyre imposed a vaccination mandate on his troops in October 2021, in line with the public service. He was caught in an administrative conundrum because policy did not allow the non-voluntary placement of non-complying soldiers on leave without pay like public servants. Gen. Eyre also elected not to consider vaccination refusals as a breach of section 126 of the National Defence Act. This would have afforded refusers the ability to defend themselves before a court martial. The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) vaccine mandate remains in place to this day for operational roles, but as of October 2022 it stopped being a condition of employment. During the period of the full mandate, DND says that 299 CAF members were released under 5(f) for refusing the COVID-19 shots. Another 108 regular force members voluntarily left while citing mandatory vaccination as the primary reason for their departure. Gen. Eyre had been warned by the CAF’s Office of the Judge Advocate General (JAG) in February 2021 that imposing a mandate would be “fraught with legal risk,” according to the legal opinion obtained by The Epoch Times. The general in charge of Canadian military health-care services also dismissed the idea that mandatory vaccination was necessary to keep operational readiness. “Modelling has proven that you can safely deploy a ship with less than 100 percent vaccination,” Brigadier General Scott Malcom is paraphrased as saying during a planning meeting on the mandate in August 2021, according to documents obtained by The Epoch Times. Hundreds of current and former CAF members have launched lawsuits against Gen. Eyre and other defence leaders in relation to COVID-19 policies. The five-year waiver for 5(f) released soldiers who refused COVID-19 vaccination comes at the time when the CAF is doing a hard push to boost recruiting numbers. Defence Minister Bill Blair recently called the personnel shortage in the military a “death spiral.” The CAF is introducing a number of measures to speed up recruiting, such as streamlining the security clearance process, creating probationary periods for new members, reviewing medical requirements, and waiving the aptitude test for certain trades and applicant profiles. Last year, the CAF had its worst attrition rate in the last 15 years. DND’s departmental plan for 2024-2025 released on Feb. 27 says the percentage of force elements ready for operations dropped from 71 to 61 percent from financial year 2021-2022 to 2022-2023. My question is this: General Eyre created this mess for the Canadian forces…why is he still a general or even employed by the Canadian Armed Forces? Justin Trudeau has contributed greatly to the devastation of the Canadian Armed Forces as have previous governments in the last 40 years. The Freedom Party of Canada will reverse this trend and put defense of our country first and foremost! ‘Canada has not taken defence seriously for at least 30 years’: The best comments from Hub readers this week (The Hub, May 3, 2024) Just how bad is Canada’s defence spending problem? Downright disastrous—with little hope in sight! “Canada has not taken defence seriously for at least 30 years. We need to re-evaluate whether our existing commitments make sense, whether new priorities need to be addressed and what kind of capabilities are most effective and complementary to the USA.” — Greg “A key problem with Canada’s defence policy reviews and resulting policy is they are not anchored on and subordinate to comprehensive and up-to-date foreign policy. A defence policy—along with trade and other policy elements—is a means to attain specific foreign policy ends.” — Ian Gray “The CAF needs to be strong in order to contribute to the defence of democracy worldwide. Canada needs a strong navy to defend freedom of the seas, a strong air force to defend against any artic incursion and a strong army to assist our allies working in hotspots around the world.” — PH Richard Shimooka: The Liberals are not going to fix Canada’s real defence spending problem (The Hub, May 3, 2024) It is evident that members of the ruling Liberal Party subscribe to a very naive understanding of international relations and military affairs. Glaringly, they have consistently misunderstood and understated the lengths to which China, Russia, and other authoritarian governments seek to overturn the international order and the risks to Canada—up to and including direct interference in Canadian democracy itself. Similar issues are evident among some members of the Conservative Party. During his final years in office, Harper, based on a broader policy of fiscal austerity, pursued deep budget cuts that severely affected the military’s readiness for the next decade. There is no better example of how the numbers do not matter than what occurred with the CF-18 replacement saga. In 2010 the Department of National Defence, based on a fairly in- depth analysis, sought to sole source 65 F-35s for $8.9 billion dollars CAD. It was clear that it was the lowest cost, most capable option that Canada could acquire. The Liberal Party, during the 2011 and then 2015 elections, railed against the purchase, claiming it was an unaffordable and unnecessary “stealth” fighter that did not suit Canada’s interests. Once in office, their solution was to acquire a significantly more costly, less capable option: an “interim capability” of 18 Boeing Super Hornets. Instead of spending $9 billion for 65 F-35s, the governing Liberals now proposed spending $6.3 billion for 18 aircraft through a sole source contract. (They’re idiots - my comment) DeepDive: Just how bad is Canada’s defence spending problem? Downright disastrous—with little hope in sight (The Hub, April 29, 2024) The current state of Canada’s military and defence spending has been the subject of international criticism and a source of growing isolation from key allies. In a world of evolving geopolitical tensions and new and emerging threats, Canada’s underinvestment in national defence represents a major vulnerability. Historically, Canada was a relatively large spender on national defence. After the end of the Korean War in the early 1950s, Canadian military expenditures peaked at over 7 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) before steadily falling to roughly 2 percent in the 1980s. Things, however, began to change with two episodes of fiscal consolidation, first under the Chrétien government in the 1990s and then under the Harper government in the 2000s. As a result, defence expenditures fell from 2.11 percent in 1986 to roughly 1 percent of GDP by 2014. At the same time, the size of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) was cut by 30 percent from 90,000 active troops in 1990 to 62,000 in 2005. The force size has remained mostly unchanged ever since. While the focus is often on the overall defence spending target, two spending commitments were actually made in the NATO Wales Summit Declaration. Specifically, NATO members pledged to spend both 2 percent of the GDP on defence while also ensuring that 20 percent of their defence budgets are spent on major new equipment purchases, including expenditures related to research and development. A more recent criticism is that the 2-percent target itself is too low in an increasingly dangerous world. The (Trudeau) government’s recently released defence policy similarly doesn’t include a plan to meet NATO targets. Indeed, the policy document anticipates spending 1.76 percent of GDP by 2029-30 while indicating that it will meet the 20 percent equipment spending target. More specifically, it commits to investing $8.1 billion over the next five years and $73 billion over the next 20 years to Canadian defence. Second, most of the planned spending is in the out years, despite Defence Minister Bill Blair stating in early March that Canada’s armed forces are in “a death spiral” when it comes to recruitment. Only $612 million in incremental spending is earmarked for the 2024-25 fiscal year, with an additional $1.1 billion coming in the following year. The majority of the incremental $8.1 billion announced in the defence policy update is not expected to be spent for several years. In addition, of the nearly $73 billion that is to be spent on defence over the next 20 years, only 11 percent is planned to be spent in the next five years. Given the severe concerns about the diminished size of the CAF and its operational readiness raised above, the investments in this plan appear inadequate to make a significant difference in the near term. Furthermore, there are also reasons to question whether the projected increases in defence spending will occur as planned, particularly when focusing on major equipment purchases. It’s one thing to earmark spending increases in government spending documents, but it’s another to ensure that there is adequate state capacity to turn those investments into the personnel and equipment that Canada’s armed forces desperately need. According to polling from Angus Reid in March 2024, a majority of Canadians (53 percent) favour either increasing defence spending to meet our NATO commitments or going beyond them. As we highlighted above, it’s far from clear that Canada will meet its spending targets according to current plans, and the CAF is in dire need of new personnel and equipment. Despite new spending promises, the evidence suggests that Canada is still off track to meet its targets by the decade’s end … We can take a lot away from this article. Firstly, the Liberal and Conservative governments of Canada have put Canadians in a precarious position regarding the defence of our country. Specifically we don’t have the manpower (and woman power) and we don’t have proper equipment for our forces to properly defend this land. Essentially, these two parties have left Canada as “Sitting Ducks” for any foreign government that would like to invade us and take over. The only thing stopping that has been our proximity to the USA but with the Americans also embracing (at least the Democrats are) the Woke ideology, we cannot depend on the US’s protection in the future. We must become a nation, like Israel, that can defend itself! The figures in the graphs above are downright embarrassing. Conservative and Liberal governments have spent between 1% and 1.5% of GDP on defence… a pittance! These two parties are not even remotely serious about the defense of Canada! Out of 30 nations in the graph above detailing military personnel as a portion of total population, we are 2nd last!…. 2nd last!!! That is pathetic!!! We have not met our NATO commitment of 2% of GDP, in fact we are 4th worst in that area. Although the Trudeau government promises increases in spending and equipment in the future…. can we really trust them? Isn’t this the same guy who said he’d balance the budget? You can’t trust a damn word out of this guy’s mouth. Canada will most assuredly continue to be defenceless under Justin Trudeau! The Freedom Party of Canada will make sure every Canadian and out country is protected! Click on the image below to see a Video about how the US Military has been infiltrated by Wokeness. The Canadian military under Justin Trudeau has similarly been infiltrated and recruiting numbers are at all time lows for each likely because of it. The Freedom Party of Canada will not tolerate any woke policies in the Canadian military. The Canadian military is a “fighting force” charged with defending Canada and it’s interests at all costs…. it is not a “Social Justice Warrior Group”!!! Enough is Enough! Soldiers Resistant to Culture Change in Armed Forces Must Be ‘Educated’ or ‘Move Along’: Defence Chief (Epoch Times, 5/10/2024) Chief of the Defence Staff General Wayne Eyre made the comments as he testified before the House of Commons defence committee on May 8. Gen. Eyre is set to retire in the coming months. The top general was involved in pushing for major changes to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) culture related to issues like sexual misconduct and so-called systemic racism. Gen. Eyre was asked by Liberal MP and committee member Chad Collins what advice he has for his successor in dealing with a “small group of people who just can’t see the path forward” as the CAF tries to change its culture on an “accelerated timeframe.” “This is an issue that has popped up over the course of my tenure where there’s the pockets of resistance that you talked about,” said Gen. Eyre. “If they cannot be brought along, if they cannot be educated—and often it’s a case of education—but if they refuse to change for the betterment of the institution, well they have to move along as as well.” The CAF has adopted postmodern critical theories and social justice ideology to overhaul its culture, the Department of National Defence (DND) has previously confirmed to The Epoch Times. Those include quasi-Marxist critical race theory, which pits groups of oppressed and oppressors against one another based on race instead of classes and seeks to dismantle the system perceived to be based on “white supremacy.” Gender theory has also been integrated, resulting in CAF members having the liberty to choose the type of dress uniform they wish to wear, notwithstanding their sex. The whole suite of critical theories concepts has been adopted by the organization’s Chief Professional Conduct and Culture, which is currently Lt.-Gen. Jenny Carignan. Some of the impacts of the cultural change became apparent around the time of Remembrance Day in November, when The Epoch Times first reported the CAF’s decision to ban military chaplains from public prayer at official events. “It is essential for chaplains to adopt a sensitive and inclusive approach when publicly addressing military members,” said the new directive signed by the Chaplain General, Brigadier-General Guy Belisle. The directive also removed religious crests from chaplains’ scarves. “Chaplains must consider the potential that some items or symbols may cause discomfort or traumatic feelings when choosing the dress they wear during public occasions,” the directive says. Under public and political pressure, Brig.-Gen. Belisle backtracked, allowing for chaplains to pray for that year’s Remembrance ceremony, and said the policy would be revisited. Retain ‘Fundamentals’ While Gen. Eyre has pushed for deep cultural change within the institution, he also told the committee that some aspects of the military’s culture should “absolutely” be retained. He identified those as the willingness to put oneself in harm’s way to protect others, the willingness to leave one’s family behind and “go to the other side of the world to do good for this country,” as well as the willingness to follow orders. “Those fundamentals, we absolutely have to retain as part of who we are, and as part of the operational effectiveness to deliver for Canada.” The general also told MPs that he is leaving an institution “on the upswing.” This is shortly after Defence Minister Bill Blair called the personnel situation in the armed forces, with more soldiers leaving than being recruited, a “death spiral.” “Despite all the challenges, the dark clouds on the horizon, the deteriorating security situation that we face around the world, I am confident that this institution is on the right path,” said Gen. Eyre. The general said that for first time in the last three years, the recently closed fiscal year saw a growth in the ranks of the regular force and the reserve. “I’m cautiously optimistic that those changes that we’ve made in our system and continue to make in recruiting and retention are bearing fruit,” he said. CAF total strength numbers provided by DND for fiscal year 2023–2024 indicate the regular force had 63,699 personnel, an increase of 210 over the previous year. Meanwhile, the reserve had 29,135 troops, an increase of 1,018 troops over the previous year. This comes after the CAF lost 6,458 troops during the COVID-19 years, from fiscal 2020–2021 to 2022–2023, in what appears to be a significant peacetime drop. Mr. Blair told the Ottawa Conference on Security and Defence on March 7 the CAF is short nearly 16,000 troops. Editor’s note: this article was updated with recent data provided by DND. Canada to Become Only NATO Member Missing Defence Spending Target in 2024, US Ambassador Says (Epoch Times, 5/28/2024) U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Cohen says Canada may soon become the only NATO member failing to meet the minimum defence spending requirement of 2 percent. “At the end of 2024, the way projections are looking, Canada will be the only country in NATO that is not spending at least 2 percent of its GDP on defence and does not have a plan to get there,” Mr. Cohen said in a May 26 interview with Global News. “Canada has moved within NATO from being a bit of an outlier to being the outlier in the entire alliance.” Both the Trudeau Liberals, the Harper Conservatives and other Canadian governments before them have totally decimated the Canadian military. The Freedom Party of Canada will create a Canadian military that is the envy of the world, as it was in World War II. What will the Freedom Party of Canada do for our Military and Defense of Canada? The Freedom Party of Canada will: 1) Create a military of 1 million men and women to be ready to defend Canada! The current fighting force of 63,000 under Justin Trudeau is pathetic and a recipe for our country being invaded in these turbulent times! 2) Eliminate homelessness within 1 year in Canada by conscripting all homeless into the Canadian Military. They will go from having no home, no clothing, no food to having a roof over their heads, a regular salary, clothing and food. A new section of the military will be created to deal with addictions, mental health etc. Those who are homeless will be put through rehabilitation programs and will be given appropriate employment. Employment may be as simple as a cleaning buildings, or administrative positions. 3) Reduce the number of prisoners and save the government billions of dollars in cost by giving most prisioners a choice: 10 years in prison or 10 years conscripted into the Canadian military. All those prisoners conscripted will have ankle bracelets to allow us to know where they are at all times. Some prisoners (serial killers, pedophiles or those found to be insane) would not be eligible for this program. 4) Create or purchase: 10 nuclear powered submarines, 2 nuclear powered aircraft carriers, 120 fighter jets including 20 Lockheed Martin F22 Raptors (enter into a deal with the USA to purchase) and 100 Lockheed Martin F35 Lighting II, and 30 M1 Abrams Tanks 5) Create 20 new military bases throughout Canada, especially in northern areas to create military jobs as well as have military protection in more areas of our country 6) Create 3 new military ice breaker ships to patrol the Arctic and enforce our sovereignty 7) Change the name of the military from the “Canadian Armed Forces” to the “Canadian Forces” in which they will encompass other areas of expertise. The Coast Guard will fall under the auspices of the Canadian Forces. The Canadian Coast Guard will go from being unarmed to armed and capable of law enforcement on the seas. 8) Stop in it’s tracks the policy of using Permanent Residents to enter the Canadian military. 9) Create military contracts such that minimum periods of time for enlistment must be adhered to according to Canadian law and not have a “revolving door” of personnel based on their personal preferences. National Defense is a priority and not a matter of personal pleasure. 10) Stop sending Canadian taxpayer dollars and military hardware to strengthen other countrie’s militaries while doing nothing about our own. We will build up our defense preparedness first and foremost before taking care of the rest of the world! The latter policy is shear madness! 11) Create deals with other nations to fast-track gaining military hardware for Canada. A possible scenario might be exchanging energy to the United States for military hardware such as nuclear submarines, aircraft carriers, F-35 and F-22 fighter jets and Abrams tanks. 12) Eliminate all Woke policies in the Canadian Armed Forces and put God at the forefront again as these Woke policies have been taking God out of the Canadian Armed Forces in place of Anti-Godly Woke Critical Race Theory and other Woke Agendas! Every Woke change to the Canadian military will be reversed and those promoting them let go from the military. Enough of Trudeau’s BS in trying to weaken and divide our forces! EXCLUSIVE: Top Soldiers Push Back on Policy Paper Blaming Military Problems on ‘Patriarchy’ (Epoch Times, 6/26/2024) As Canada’s military continues on a path to overhaul its culture, top leaders in the defence establishment have expressed concerns about the tone used in a new strategy paper guiding the change. The military’s new guiding document, “Defence Team Culture Evolution Strategy,” which is already being rolled out but hasn’t been publicized, blames “colonialism,” “patriarchy,” and “heteronormativity” for cultural problems affecting the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The Freedom Party of Canada will not allow our depleted military to become the most Woke Force in the world. Wokeness will be eliminated forever from the Canadian military. Lt.-Gen. Jennie Carignan Named New Chief of Canada’s Military (Epoch Times, 7/3/2024) Lieutenant-General Jennie Carignan has been named Canada’s next chief of the defence staff, making her the first woman to hold the Canadian Armed Forces’ top position. Lt.-Gen. Carignan will replace General Wayne Eyre, who is retiring this summer after 40 years of service in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and serving as chief of the defence staff (CDS) since 2021, the Prime Minister’s Office announced July 3. Lt.-Gen. Carignan will be promoted to the rank of general and will officially assume her duties after a change-of-command July 18 ceremony. Lt.-Gen. Carignan’s military career spans more than 35 years, during which time she commanded two Combat Engineer Regiments and the 2nd Canadian Division, leading over 10,000 soldiers and directing crisis operations during flood relief efforts in Quebec. She was deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 and served in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Syria. Lt.-Gen. Carignan led the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) Mission Iraq from 2019 to 2020. It was a non-combat advisory mission that assisted Iraq to strengthen its armed forces and security institutions to combat terrorism and prevent the return of the terrorist group ISIS. Since her promotion to her current rank in 2021, Lt.-Gen. Carignan has served as the Chief of Professional Conduct and Culture (CPCC), leading efforts to change the culture in the CAF. The position was created after allegations of sexual misconduct were levelled against senior CAF leaders. Carignan we believe was appointed by Trudeau. The fact she was in charge of “Culture” makes her appointment very suspicious….let’s hope she is not promoting a “Woke Ideology” in the Canadian Forces. If she is, the Freedom Party will appoint someone who will not! MO State Rep Justin Hicks says DEI in the military is ‘extremely dangerous’ (Just the News, July 3, 2024 - Video) Missouri State Representative Justin Hicks warns that the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion push within the U.S. military is creating divides, affecting unit cohesion and the military’s fighting capability. Boosting Recruitment a Top Priority for New Canadian Military Chief (Epoch Times, 7/19/2024) Canada’s new Chief of the Defence Staff General Jennie Carignan says her foremost priority is replenishing the ranks of the military. As Ottawa pushes to update and replace key military hardware, Gen. Carignan noted new equipment is only good if there are people to operate it. “The priority is to make sure that we welcome a whole range of Canadian expertise and quality people to ensure that we have the people we need to render our forces ready to crew all of these platforms,” she said at a press conference after replacing Gen. Wayne Eyre as the Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). Gen. Carignan is inheriting an organization plagued by recruiting and retention issues that were compounded during the COVID-19 years. According to figures provided by the Department of National Defence, the CAF saw a net loss of nearly 6,500 troops, regular force and primary reserve combined, between April 2020 and March 2023. The date 2032 has also been advanced by Ottawa as the target to reach the NATO defence spending guideline of 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement on the final day of the NATO Summit in Washington last week. The government’s defence policy update released in April had a lesser spending target of 1.76 percent of GDP on defence by 2029–2030. The Freedom Party of Canada will vastly increase defense spending to bring our troop numbers up to 2.5% of the Canadian population or 1 million people. New equipment will be purchased to make sure our troops can match any fighting force in the world. Pride in the Canadian military will be restored. The Liberal and Conservative government have been completely negligent in maintaining the Canadian Forces as a serious fighting force in the world. The Freedom Party of Canada will reverse that trend!