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Sapped of both hard and soft power, Canada needs action to keep up in a dangerous world

Published

2 years ago

6 minute read

From the MacDonald Laurier Institute

By Charles Burton

Ottawa’s vexing indifference toward national defence and security will not serve or protect Canada.

Speaking to an international crowd of leaders, ministers and other representatives who had gathered earlier this month in Beijing for a forum that marked 10 years of China’s Belt and Road Initiative global infrastructure program, Chinese leader Xi Jinping declared that “changes of the world, of our times, and of historical significance are unfolding like never before.”

Quite right. Will the Russian invasion of Ukraine be resolved without war with NATO? Will armed conflict in the Middle East, fomented by Iran, spiral into a regional war? Would China open a third front by invading Taiwan? If the atrocious provocations to war by Iran, Russia and China develop simultaneously on three fronts – setting off a world war in Asia, the Middle East and Indo-Pacific – where will Canada stand?

Canada should be a respected and resonant voice in the international arena. We are both an Atlantic and a Pacific nation, and our heralded history of peacekeeping involvement in the Middle East dates back to the Suez Crisis of the 1950s and Lester Pearson’s Nobel Prize. In the Second World War, prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King sat down for four power meetings with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin.

Canada once mattered. But those days are long gone.

Years of underfunding defence and freeloading on the U.S. for our national security are leading to Canada being phased out. The significance of the Group of Seven and the Five Eyes intelligence alliance has become equalled or overtaken by that of organizations from which Canada is excluded, such as the Quint and AUKUS, which is aimed at Indo-Pacific security even though Britain is not a Pacific nation. Despite reportedly telling Western leaders and officials at the G20 summit that it had credible intelligence that India’s government was involved in the assassination of a Canadian citizen, no leader was willing to publicly criticize Narendra Modi. Our soft power authority has faded.

Given our pathetically depleted hard power capabilities, Canada needs a reality check on what we can actually do with the limited resources at our disposal.

First of all, it is time to stop mouthing hollow bromides about “our” north, and actually reorient our defence to establish a meaningful presence in the Arctic. China now defines itself as a “near-Arctic nation,” with increased investment in the region and plans around a potential shipping route – a “polar silk road” – that could emerge between melting ice caps; Russia, meanwhile, has argued that much of Canada’s Arctic waters actually belongs to them. If a major conflict were to arise with Russia and China allied against the U.S. and Canada, our unprotected Arctic could be quickly lost to Beijing and Moscow’s ambitions to expand their territory beyond Europe and East Asia.

Secondly, Canada must protect its northern stores of critical minerals. We talk a good game on this, but so far that has mostly been political bafflegab. Beyond making an obvious statement about our sovereignty, developing our northern resources is a productive way to create economic opportunities for northern Indigenous communities, and shows our allies that we are serious about stopping China from monopolizing valuable minerals in Canadian soil that are vital to the world’s high-tech future.

Finally, Ottawa needs to step up and meet the challenge to Canada’s security from Iran, Russia and China. There was tough talk in Parliament earlier this year about foreign actors manipulating our democratic institutions, but there has yet to be legislation tabled to create so much as a foreign agent registry. The federal government’s response to the 34 well-considered recommendations of a House of Commons special committee on Canada-China relations released in May was dismissive.

Even the Commons subcommittee on international human rights’ report on Tibetan residential schools in China was effectively ignored. One would have thought this issue would be something Canada could take a lead on, considering our history in this area. But in responding to the report, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly didn’t even acknowledge the recommendation that Canada sanction Chinese Communist officials complicit in their residential schools policy.

What is the point of investing considerable resources into parliamentary committees if the government sees them only as an irritant to be checked, rather than a positive contributor to national policy development?

We are facing an axis of cold-blooded dictators determined to destroy Western-supported stability and order. With global tensions more combustible than at any time in a generation or more, Ottawa’s vexing indifference toward national defence and security will not serve or protect Canada.

We need to refocus what remains of our military and security resources to what really matters, and fast.

Charles Burton is a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, non-resident senior fellow of the European Values Center for Security Policy in Prague, and former diplomat at Canada’s embassy in Beijing.

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armed forces

Trump rebuilds the ranks: Army crushes 2025 recruitment goal early

Published on June 3, 2025

By

MXM logo MxM News

Quick Hit:

The Army has already exceeded its 2025 recruiting goal of 61,000 troops—four months ahead of schedule—as the Trump administration’s rollback of woke policies draws thousands back to military service.

Key Details:

  • The Army’s 2025 recruiting goal was 61,000—higher than last year’s 55,000—and has already been met with more than four months remaining in the fiscal year. Officials report a 56% increase in average daily enlistment rates over last year.

  • Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll thanked Trump and Hegseth, saying their “decisive leadership” and “putting soldiers first” contributed to the record-breaking numbers.

  • Hegseth has aggressively pushed to eliminate leftist cultural initiatives in the military, including moves to administratively separate transgender troops and rename a Navy ship previously dedicated to gay rights icon Harvey Milk.

Diving Deeper:

The U.S. Army has reached a major milestone ahead of schedule—signing up 61,000 new recruits in fiscal year 2025, effectively smashing its annual goal months before the September 30th deadline. The achievement marks a dramatic shift after years of underperformance and is being touted as a vindication of the Trump administration’s efforts to reorient the military away from progressive social engineering and back toward warfighting readiness.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed Tuesday, Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll praised the recruiting corps, attributing their success to both boots-on-the-ground determination and high-level support. “I’m incredibly proud of our U.S. Army recruiters and drill sergeants,” he said. “Their colossal efforts and dedication to duty helped the U.S. Army accomplish our FY25 annual recruiting goal a full four months ahead of schedule.” Driscoll continued, “I want to thank the commander in chief, President Trump, and Secretary of Defense Hegseth for their decisive leadership and support.”

The Army’s target of 61,000 recruits was a notable jump from last year’s 55,000 goal. Officials say that as of this month, daily enlistment figures are tracking 56% higher than the previous year.

Driving the increase, many believe, is the sweeping overhaul of military culture underway under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hegseth has made no secret of his intent to steer the armed forces away from what he calls “woke and weak” policies. That includes the Pentagon’s past focus on gender identity politics, climate initiatives, and mandatory diversity training—priorities Hegseth sees as incompatible with combat readiness.

“We are leaving wokeness and weakness behind,” Hegseth declared during remarks last month at the Special Operations Forces Week convention in Tampa. “No more pronouns, no more climate change obsession, no more emergency vaccine mandates. No more dudes in dresses. We’re done with that s***.”

Hegseth emphasized a military rooted in “lethality, meritocracy, accountability, standards and readiness,” and added pointedly, “Our combat formations don’t need to look like Harvard University—they need to look like killers.”

In line with that shift, Hegseth also this week ordered the Navy to remove Harvey Milk’s name from a replenishment ship. The vessel had been named in honor of Milk, a gay rights activist and former Navy officer who was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977 before being assassinated a year later.

The directive aligns with what Hegseth calls “warrior culture” and the broader mission to reflect Trump administration priorities across the military’s assets and institutions. The Pentagon has yet to confirm a new name for the USNS Harvey Milk, and a spokesperson said reviews are ongoing.

The Army is set to mark its 250th anniversary on June 14th—a symbolic moment, officials say, as it reclaims its footing and begins to rebuild the force from a position of strength.

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armed forces

New Trump-Pentagon ad resets mission: end wokeness, win wars

Published on May 26, 2025

By

MXM logo MxM News

Quick Hit:

The Pentagon released a dramatic new ad Sunday featuring President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, highlighting the end of woke policies in the military and a renewed focus on strength, discipline, and warfighting.

Key Details:

  • The ad, titled Peace through Strength, features intense training and combat scenes, underscored by speeches from Trump and Hegseth.

  • “No more distraction, no more electric tanks, no more gender confusion, no more climate change worship,” Hegseth proclaims, signaling a sharp pivot from recent Pentagon policies.

  • Trump promises that under his leadership, U.S. military success will be defined “not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars we end,” calling for peace built on American strength.

Diving Deeper:

The Pentagon launched a forceful new recruitment and branding campaign over Memorial Day weekend, spotlighting the military’s return to fundamentals under the leadership of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump. The minute-long ad, titled Peace through Strength, premiered Sunday at the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR event and was simultaneously posted to the Department of Defense’s social media accounts.

Using fast-paced training footage and dramatic music, the ad showcases troops in battlefield simulations and highlights a no-nonsense message from the Trump administration. Hegseth opens with a clear declaration: “No more distraction, no more electric tanks, no more gender confusion, no more climate change worship. We are laser-focused on our mission of warfighting.”

The video includes remarks from Trump affirming his vision for a military built on discipline and deterrence. “Through our power and might, we will lead the world to peace,” he says. “Our friends will respect us. Our enemies will fear us. And the whole world will admire the unrivaled greatness of the United States military.”

The ad was produced using previously recorded training footage, according to a Pentagon spokesperson who spoke to The New York Post.

Hegseth also makes a direct appeal to America’s youth, praising “incredible” young men and women “giving up the best years of their lives” to defend the country. He closes the ad with a quote that underscores the values behind the mission: “We don’t fight because we hate what’s in front of us. We fight because we love what’s behind us.”

The backdrop to the ad is a recruiting crisis that had plagued the military under Biden. In fiscal year 2022, the U.S. Army fell short by roughly 25% of its enlistment target. Similar gaps were recorded across other branches in 2023, with both the Navy and Air Force reporting thousands fewer recruits than needed.

Reversing that trend has been a key objective for Hegseth. He has made it clear that returning to a warrior culture—and scrapping the distractions of social experimentation—is central to solving the problem.

The ad’s release comes just days after the House passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which adds $150 billion in new military funding. That package includes investments in shipbuilding, defense modernization, and Trump’s space-based Golden Dome missile defense initiative.

Together, the new ad and the legislation serve as a one-two punch from the Trump administration, signaling a full-spectrum push to rebuild, rearm, and reinspire the U.S. Armed Forces.

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