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Canada’s Proposed 300,000 Citizen Army is Dead on Arrival The big news from the past month is the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) cockamamie plan to create a citizen reserve force of 300,000 “soldiers”. What are the details? Well, according to this Murray Brewster of the CBC, a new unit is being drawn up in the CAF with the “daunting mission of delivering 100,000 reserve soldiers and an additional 300,000 citizen soldiers in a supplementary reserve…” That would be on top of an…
A Patriot Author’s Recommendations to Sort Canada Out (Post Carney Davos Speech) Further to Mr. Carney’s January 20 speech in Davos, I re-read this piece I wrote several weeks ago. I’m struck by the similarities between what Carney said and what’s below. That Carney’s speech so closely reflects what is below goes to show how much he nailed the moment yesterday in Davos. If I’m a centre-right Canadian, and the PM and I are singing from the same hymn book,…
I read with interest the former Australian Prime Minister’s National Post article on Canada’s defence spending. My initial reaction was satisfaction that such a prominent politician from a Five-Eyes country was giving it to the Canadian government. However, my opinion changed as I considered the viewpoints of a number of pundits and their take on Abbott’s categorization of Canada as a nation of “early quitters.” Abbott’s thesis about Canada and its defence spending and foreign policy is only half right.…
Since I write books about the United States’ second Civil War, I feel like I should write a review about the movie Civil War, which got its full release on April 14. I saw it last night and in a word, it was a terrific movie. For those of you who don’t know about the movie or who know a little about it, the scene that sets the background for the movie is a civil war that’s taking place in…
A fellow aspiring author asked how my advert for Take Whiteman ended up in his FB feed. He was looking for a few tips on Facebook ads but once I got on a roll, I banged out this tome. If you’re interested in the writing, have a gander at what’s below. I’m still very new at the writing thing, so take everything with a pinch of salt. In fact, nothing below guarantees success. They are only the lessons I’ve…
The Quick Answer is No. Let’s start off by answering the question of what is AUKUS? First, AUKUS stands for Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. As best I can understand, AUKUS is a three-country defence pact that proposes the involved countries work together closely on several defence-related issues in the Pacific region, including the transfer of technology that would allow Australia to acquire nuclear submarines (henceforth to called SSN = Submersible Ship Nuclear). It’s this last point…
I recently listened to a podcast where Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff talked about the future of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). As things tend to go with senior leaders from any large governmental organization, it was a guarded talk. There was however one thing I seized on from the General’s remarks. Specifically, on two occasions, he indicated that the CAF would have to choose capabilities (current or future) that it wouldn’t be able to take on. The comment got…
Recently, I wrote a detailed blog on why the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) can’t meet its recruiting targets. Further to that post, the CAF announced it would allow Permanent Residents (PRs) to apply to the CAF. Subsequently, it was announced that 2,400 PRs applied to the CAF. This was an important and positive policy change for the CAF. If done well, recruiting, training and holding onto PRs could go some distance to increasing the CAF’s enrollment numbers and increasing the…
I did some reading up on Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and the consensus seems to be that it’s a step in the right direction but that it is also modest. In Take Whiteman and its sequel, China plays a role, but it’s primarily in the background. In my novels, the United States is in the midst of a civil war and has largely pulled back from its international commitments. I have also assumed China has taken Taiwan and is asserting itself…
I’ve now had just over 800 people download my first two novels. To my surprise, the majority of my readers indicate they’re from the United States. This being the case, I thought I would write this blog post as an open letter to my American readership. And what am I writing to my American readers about? Just this – Why in the name of whatever you believe in do you tolerate countries like Canada spending virtually nothing on its own…
