The recent actions of the United States towards Canada, and its threats of annexation have led to a new impetus in Canada to create a supplemental military reserve defence force.
And while enrolment in the Canadian Armed Forces and the number of full-time soldiers, airmen and naval personnel has reduced markedly over the years, today’s threat environment and Canada’s plan to spend 5% of GDP on the military by 2035 creates impetus for a major shift in both how Canada’s Armed Forces will be funded, created, equipped and trained.
Not since WWII has Canada felt the need to develop a force structure that imposed as many considerations as building the equivalent of the ‘whole society defence force’, similar to that of Finland or Sweden. However, a real consideration needs to be a new category of ‘conscription’ for service in this force.
Each year in Canada, approximately 225,000 men turn the age of 19. If Canada sought a limited conscription for men, and a voluntary enlistment by women into the Supplemental Military Reserve Force, Canada could meet such a commitment. Training of these personnel could take place over the two months of summer, including basic military training, weapons training and small unit combat training.
These citizen soldiers would then be provided with a weapon and ammunition and be placed on active reserve for a period of time each year until they reached 50 years of age. Paid at the rank they act in during times of call-up or deployment, the SMRF should also be provided with military transport in the event of deployment, with this equipment stationed at cache points across Canada. This would have to include sufficient supplies to provide a month’s deployment in a combat environment including ammunition, food, and all the necessary supplies.
The training of these personnel would have to be a major priority for such a force to be credible, and NCO’s and officers of these units would have to be provide with more intensive training within operational forces deployed by Canada in order to offer them the ability to lead and integrate the SMRF into Canada’s Armed Forces in a time of emergency.
If Canada is serious about creating a citizen soldier that is competent, capable and militarily trained to a proficiency required of a professional force, then Canada must provide the necessary equipment, training and support to make this possible. Lip service will not cut it.
The material costs themselves, just for clothing and a standard CAF military rifle would cost $1.8 billion. To train and equip these personnel would like increase those costs to $5 billion annually. However, if Canada is serious about developing such a force, the annual costs would likely be twice as much, when basic military transport and the increased capacity for Mobile Command to move these personnel where they would be required and provided with temporary housing.
Spending 10% of Canada’s $150 billion dollars in military spending each year, will enable Canada to field a trained and capable citizen army made up of those serving in the Canadian Supplementary Reserve Force.
If Canada is to spend $150 billion per year to maintain Canadian sovereignty, so be it. It will require sacrifice, both personal and societal, however freedom demands that Canada act now if it wants to be ready for the future in relation to conflict and the likely source of it.
From a societal perspective, the training and discipline required for service will have a profound effect on Canadians who serve in this force, and with the requisite support from employers, and Provincial and Municipal Governments, Canada can certainly support, train and maintain such a force.
In WWII, with only a population of 12 million souls, Canada sent 775,000 men to serve in Canada’s Army in Europe and the Far East. Maintaining a CSRF of 300,000 is not only doable, it’s requisite for Canada in the threat environment Canada faces today, and likely for the foreseeable future.
However, once again, it is imperative that Canada begin the process now as the world is destabilizing at a rapid rate. Canada needs to take this action seriously and to not dither, navel gaze and pull fluff. If Canada is to act, it needs to do so decisively and allocate all the necessary funding and procurement to make it possible in the shortest possible time frame.
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