The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - Remembering all of the veterans

00:00:00.000 hello and welcome once again to the blueprints this is canada's conservative podcast i'm your

00:00:15.880 host jamie schmale member of parliament for halliburton core the lakes brock with new content

00:00:19.840 for you every single tuesday 1 30 p.m eastern time we ask that you like comment subscribe share

00:00:25.780 this program of course as always if you can't listen or watch it in its entirety right this

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00:00:36.380 there another great show lined up for you today we're talking about remembrance day we're talking

00:00:41.720 about veterans we're talking about military procurement all of the above and much more

00:00:47.040 because of course friday is remembrance day and remember all those that serve fought for our

00:00:51.440 freedom either in conflict or at home or abroad we we want to remember those that put it all on

00:00:57.280 the line for us so to bring on a very special guest a guy who's come on before talked to us before good

00:01:03.360 friend of the show james suzanne member of parliament for selkirk interlake eastman in the beautiful

00:01:07.580 province of manitoba so the defense critic thanks for joining us thanks for having me back on the show

00:01:11.720 all right so of course our veterans are are all the focus this week it's it's a very important week

00:01:18.280 a week that canadians remember those who have served who put their lives on the line for the

00:01:24.040 country and for what we believe in as a country this is a great opportunity for us to remember that

00:01:30.140 sacrifice honor those that have served and thank those that are currently serving protect us here

00:01:35.780 at home and protect those around the world who can't protect themselves and project canadian values

00:01:40.160 and interests on the international level you know we uh this week we got today is is indigenous

00:01:47.380 veterans day you know we have had you know just past weekend veterans suppers and they're going on

00:01:52.500 all week right up until remembrance day and it is a way for us um to to show our appreciation for those

00:01:58.180 that have served and um it's also time to talk about you know the the the specific battles that they've

00:02:05.700 been in and the effects of those battles uh including our modern day veterans who serve in places like

00:02:11.940 iraq and afghanistan and bosnia and uh knowing that often they've come back um with with physical injury

00:02:19.060 as well as those that we can't see yeah absolutely and and the toll i think is something especially if

00:02:24.900 it's it's a mental health issue or the post-traumatic stress disorder stuff you don't see right off the

00:02:30.340 bat it's not kind of visible you hear about it after the fact and that's something i think the government

00:02:34.660 has has an has definitely responsibility to do i just don't think this government is fully following

00:02:40.740 through on that commitment no and and you know they uh talked the talk but they haven't walked

00:02:46.900 that walk and we do need to do more in providing those supports and making sure people are getting

00:02:52.740 the help that they deserve as well as their families who are the front line in in dealing with the

00:02:58.740 aftermath of operational stress stress injuries so let's keep uh those those programs moving forward

00:03:06.260 and adjusting to the needs of of today's veteran when you talk about today's veteran those serving

00:03:11.780 today we just saw a few reports and you're on the defense committee obviously the critic you've seen

00:03:16.980 the numbers of how short the canadian armed forces are in terms of recruitment why do you think that is

00:03:22.420 and what does the military need to do get those numbers up that they are operational when called upon

00:03:27.860 well the liberals have completely demoralized our troops

00:03:32.500 they have essentially made those that serve feel like they're unwanted they have not taken the time

00:03:41.220 and an effort to go out there and aggressively recruit and bring people back in we have to remind

00:03:45.860 everyone that that being a member of the canadian armed forces is an incredibly honorable uh career path

00:03:51.940 to take uh you're you're going to do some amazing things uh and uh you know there is the three different

00:03:58.820 divisions of the armed forces that you can serve in on well if you count special operation forces

00:04:03.140 essentially there is there's four with infantry special ops navy and air force and you know but

00:04:09.540 we've got a government here that uh has gone completely woke uh that they have now pushed that down onto

00:04:17.060 uh the recruitment uh component of the armed forces and so we're not getting enough people signed up and

00:04:23.620 and uh that is disturbing because that impacts our ability to operate as an armed forces it's impacting

00:04:32.100 our ability to deal with the crises that come from uh here at home and so you know general air the chief

00:04:38.340 of the defense staff has said they're down about 10 000 operators right now uh according to former chief

00:04:44.340 of defense staff general hillier he's hearing that number is more like 45 000 is all we have is deployable

00:04:50.020 personnel that doesn't put us in a place where we can send out a battle group never mind a division

00:04:57.860 to go and help our allies if we are needed in eastern europe to deal with russia's aggression in

00:05:04.100 ukraine or if you know god forbid russia even pushes it farther and invades one of our nato allies and

00:05:09.220 then article 5 is in effect and we have to deploy um never mind our ability to project our strength in the

00:05:14.980 arctic so the liberals have done a terrible job at procuring but at this point in time we don't even

00:05:21.860 have enough pilots to put in the old rusted out f-18s they bought from australia never mind buying new

00:05:29.700 f-35s which they still haven't signed the deal on or putting new navy ships uh surfers combatants out in

00:05:36.100 the sea or you know deploying troops across canada deal with natural disaster as we witnessed that it was a

00:05:43.140 big effort to to get enough troops into nova scotia in brunswick to deal with the aftermath of hurricane

00:05:50.740 fiona i remember running in the 2015 election and and getting hit on both sides the ndp and the liberals

00:05:58.020 talking about the replacement of the the f-18s they're bringing in we wanted to bring in of course

00:06:04.580 our government wanted to bring in the f-35s and the liberals and ndp wanted nothing to do with that

00:06:09.140 we wasted about six or seven years when these planes could have been at least in our possession

00:06:16.660 or being trained upon all that time's lost and we bought like you said these older planes from

00:06:22.340 australia and and really when you're talking about bringing our military up to battle ready status or

00:06:29.780 even the ability to deploy if they needed in a disaster um it it's it's gone downhill under this

00:06:35.780 government of course the 1990s is infamous infamous famously or infamously known as a decade of

00:06:41.620 darkness it's like the cycles are repeating itself here and you know it it even goes back further

00:06:48.100 than decade of darkness because decade darkness was terrible and military was dramatically underfunded

00:06:52.820 it's underfunded to the state despite the goal of this government they talk the talk that they're

00:06:56.660 going to increase military spending and it's going to be up above 1.34 percent of gdp uh there's money

00:07:03.780 in the books well guess what they're three billion dollars short this year on what they're supposed

00:07:07.300 to spend on new equipment the last five years before that they're spending two billion dollars

00:07:12.580 a year less than what they should have been so we have all this lapse funding that's now over 15

00:07:17.620 billion dollars that they say they spent but they never did spend that means that there isn't

00:07:21.620 equipment out there that means that we aren't hiring up and recruiting new soldiers seamen uh sailors and

00:07:28.180 an air crew uh you know we can't put planes in the air we can't put ships to sea we can't deploy

00:07:33.940 forces as as required and that is you know demoralizing for those that serve because you sign up

00:07:41.140 because you want to deploy you want to go out there and do amazing things and and be part of a of the

00:07:47.860 camaraderie and fellowship uh that comes with being a member of the canadian armed forces and uh instead

00:07:54.660 you know you don't have enough people there to train they don't have that experience level anymore

00:07:58.980 because they're leaving in in in droves uh so there is a need to change uh how the the the the government

00:08:08.740 manages canadian armed forces that means we have to change out who who the government is so i i'd say

00:08:14.900 that as a conservative government that we will respect and honor those that serve and we'll get the kit

00:08:20.100 bought a lot quicker uh by breaking down uh some of those barriers on how we go about procuring we'll

00:08:26.980 get rid of the gatekeepers and and that starts with uh a lot of the rules and regulations have

00:08:32.340 been adopted by treasury board and and public service uh pub you know procurement canada public

00:08:37.860 services so you know there needs to be a way to get things bought especially now that it's impacting our

00:08:44.260 not only our ability to deal with a much more dangerous world as we witnessed putin and his war machine 0.98

00:08:49.700 and ukraine but also the threats coming from the communist regime in beijing about invading neighboring

00:08:54.900 taiwan we have to be on a war footing and we're anything but because the liberals have been lethargic

00:09:02.180 and they've allowed our our armed forces to atrophy the military really is an organization that like

00:09:08.900 everybody else has to compete for the bodies right they have to compete with the private sector they have

00:09:13.380 to compete with the different agencies within the public sector to get the bodies they need and and

00:09:19.620 and one of the attractions as you pointed out earlier would be you know the the honor of

00:09:24.740 serving and and being able to deploy and and help others when they're in a time of need

00:09:31.780 we also have the piece of being trained and working on the latest equipment which we are

00:09:36.100 severely lacking as you just pointed out this is this is this is a problem that has building for

00:09:42.660 years and years and years under this liberal rule they're they're not giving that incentive piece

00:09:48.420 to hey you we have the latest equipment here we're going to train you on that we're going to provide

00:09:53.620 a career for you here right now it doesn't seem to have that that that piece to it and that piece

00:09:59.460 seems to be missing unfortunately and it has really impacted um you know people that have been new

00:10:06.260 recruits that they've got in they've had to wait months to get into basic training because there's just

00:10:10.740 nobody there to help train them up uh you're missing that middle management those those you know uh

00:10:17.780 veterans that that have served in afghanistan that that are the you know master corporals and the

00:10:23.380 sergeants sergeant majors that walk into you know basic training and and uh and training up and you

00:10:28.500 know petty officers and warrant officers and you know so so when you don't have that that skill set then

00:10:34.500 people are waiting because there's only so many out there that can they're able to do that training

00:10:38.340 and then after you get through basic then you're you're starting to go down your your career path

00:10:44.660 and you've decided what what specialization that you want to have and get trained in it and i hear

00:10:49.620 that some people are sitting around you know 18 months to 24 months before they even get in on the

00:10:55.620 course that is what's undermining morale that is what's you know holding people back from from from

00:11:02.660 their you know career goals and aspirations and that's why we have to really invest heavily into

00:11:10.180 the recruitment piece so we can get operators get them trained up get them so they're in a position

00:11:16.660 to to deploy and uh do do the uh hard work but honorable job of of being a member of the canadian armed

00:11:23.060 forces another piece of this has been in the national media recently is arctic sovereignty i know that's

00:11:28.820 something you're very passionate about but when we're talking about getting the numbers up in the

00:11:34.100 recruitment phase getting the proper equipment we don't really have either functioning properly

00:11:42.260 because of this liberal government that could actually protect our arctic or at least have our

00:11:47.220 stake in it because we know there are other countries that are very interested in that piece of land

00:11:53.940 yeah we're so we're doing the study right now actually at the national defense committee and

00:11:58.180 on our arctic sovereignty and arctic defense and the united states expects us to take care of our

00:12:04.180 backyard you know the arctic is for the most part canada's backyard and certainly we got you know the

00:12:10.340 the danes with greenland we got the americans in alaska but we have our responsibility to continental

00:12:16.340 security so when we talk arctic security we're talking about continental security and you know it's been a

00:12:22.020 long-standing relationship that the americans expect us to protect the northern approaches and they'll

00:12:28.580 worry about you know everything else so when we have a north warning system that's becoming obsolete very

00:12:36.340 quickly here and a lack of investment at this point in time into making sure that we have you know new

00:12:45.380 radar systems installed that are over the horizon radar systems that we have low earth orbit satellites

00:12:51.860 that can monitor 24 7 eyes on every square inch of the arctic uh updating and expanding our radar sat

00:12:59.700 constellation you know deploying um unmanned vehicles whether it's below ice or above ice we have to have

00:13:07.540 that that that that technology and and canada should be leading on it but right now we're seem to

00:13:13.540 have to uh have a laissez-faire uh approach um and we're still 10 years out from those uh investments

00:13:21.380 happening and being operational we don't have 10 years if you look at the world around us and the threats that we're

00:13:27.540 facing in the arctic you know the the people's liberation army navy from china has more icebreakers now than canada the united states combined

00:13:35.540 and they're not even an arctic nation they're near arctic but they're not an arctic nation and they

00:13:42.100 have as part of their belt road initiative the polar silk road and so they have an interest in resource

00:13:48.980 development and economic activity uh in in the arctic uh and and canada needs to make sure that we're

00:13:56.180 exercising our sovereignty over uh the arctic including all the archipelagos as well as the northwest passage

00:14:04.340 which unfortunately our adversaries see as international water so it takes military

00:14:11.780 equipment is is something in this country we haven't done well for a while if if if we need this

00:14:16.980 equipment now i don't trust this government to be able to get what we what we need in time for

00:14:23.940 you know just to just to just to keep up with the uh playing field here i it just doesn't seem possible

00:14:29.860 we're going to have to have some priorities and and what what's important and make sure those

00:14:33.620 investments happen first uh and uh that's the thing that uh pier pauliev i know as our leader is

00:14:39.700 looking at uh and how can we procure a lot faster you know how much more can we buy off the shelf

00:14:46.420 rather than canadianizing every piece of kit that we use uh and at the same time still support industries

00:14:52.500 that we have here but where we don't you know then how do we go to the open market and get what we need

00:14:57.860 so that our troops have all the uh equipment to go along with the skills that they're going to develop

00:15:03.940 in the canadian armed forces all right perfect well i appreciate the opportunity anytime thank you so

00:15:09.300 much for coming on the show as you know i always give the guests the last word so if there's anything

00:15:12.980 you want to say this uh being the week of remembrance week uh remembrance day on friday the floor is yours

00:15:18.900 i'll just say this that um for all those that have served and those that are currently serving and those who

00:15:23.300 will serve in the future thank you for keeping count of the true north strong free thank you for

00:15:28.660 going out there and standing with our allies and protecting those that can't protect themselves you

00:15:33.300 know all too often we take for granted uh our armed forces not realizing that they are standing on the

00:15:38.580 wall 24 7. you know and the norad mission is that they got you know uh they have the watch 24 7.

00:15:45.220 uh and uh our navy is always ready to sail and engage any uh threats that are coming our way

00:15:52.660 we can never just um take them for granted because we exist as a nation because they are there to

00:15:58.740 defend us james ben member of parliament for selkirk interlake eastman in the beautiful province of

00:16:04.020 manitoba also the defense critic we appreciate his time we appreciate your time as well please remember

00:16:08.980 new content every single tuesday 1 30 p.m eastern time please like comment subscribe subscribe share

00:16:14.900 this program and of course download it and listen to it on platforms like castbox itunes google play

00:16:19.620 spotify you know name it it is out there tell two friends about it because they want beer probably

00:16:24.100 have to be prime minister just as much as we do you're here until next week we say low taxes less

00:16:28.980 government more freedom that's the blueprint

00:16:44.900 so

00:16:52.500 you

00:16:53.620 so

00:16:54.100 you

The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - November 09, 2022

Remembering all of the veterans

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