Canada’s Illusion of Security: Carney’s 2035 Pledge Can’t Defend 2025

 

❄️ “We are unarmed and undefended right now.”

— Lt.-Gen. Michel Maisonneuve (Ret’d)

While Ottawa boasts of future spending, Canada remains a glasshouse today—undefended, unprepared, and dangerously dependent.

Canada’s Boutique Military: The Liberal Legacy

Canada is not a fireproof house. It is a glasshouse with no alarms, relying on its neighbour to call 911. What was once a nation of peacekeepers is now a country outsourcing sovereignty while pretending all is well.

This decline was no accident. Since 2015, Justin Trudeau and his advisor Mark Carney treated defence as theatre—obsessed with image and pageantry while the Canadian Forces crumbled.

• NATO ignored: Barely 1.37% of GDP in 2024.
• Procurement chaos: Endless delays, grounded planes, rusting submarines.
• Personnel crisis: Recruitment collapse, scandals, and distrust.
• Arctic neglect: Talk, delay, and hope instead of hard defence.

This was ideology—the illusion that Canada could “opt out” of geopolitics.

The Great Pledge: Reality or Mirage?

Now, under Prime Minister Mark Carney, Canada has joined NATO’s new pledge: 5% of GDP by 2035, with 3.5% for core military and 1.5% for dual-use infrastructure.

The rhetoric is grand. Carney promises modernized forces, new industries, and high-paying jobs. But let’s be clear: this pledge is a decade away. In military terms, that is an eternity—and Canada’s enemies will not wait until 2035.

A review in 2029? That’s four more years of drift before accountability even begins. Carney may be buying time, not security.

A Culture Afraid of Strength

While Liberal elites mocked Thatcher, Reagan, and Trump, it was their resolve and spending that held the line in global crises. Canadians cheered Trudeau’s selfies while U.S. pilots intercepted Russian bombers over our skies.

Now they applaud Carney’s polished speeches, even as today’s military sits in ruins. Canada remains addicted to consensus and allergic to strength.

Delusion or Defence: Canada’s Choice

Canada cannot coast on a decade-long promise. We need urgent action now, not vague targets for 2035.

The Minimum Reset Canada Needs

• Action this year, not 2035: Carney’s 5% GDP pledge sounds bold, but Canada must reach 2% immediately to meet NATO’s minimum standard now.
• Procurement by purchase, not promises: Buy modern off-the-shelf systems—F-35s, drones, Arctic submarines—before another decade of delay.
• A recruitment renaissance: End bureaucracy; rebuild pride, purpose, and trust in service.
• Arctic sovereignty secured: Bases, early-warning systems, drones, and allied integration must be operational before others claim the frontier.
• Purge leadership paralysis: Clear out the culture of delay, denial, and political theatre that has crippled defence for decades.

Wake Up, Canada

A pledge for 2035 does not defend Canada in 2025. Pearson once called Canada a “fireproof house.” Today it is a glasshouse filled with tinder—waiting for someone else to hold the matches.