The claim that ‘we can’t afford not to spend’ is true. We are now in a world where we are obliged to take a less complacent view about our own security
Sun Tzu’s Art of War recommends building your enemy a “golden bridge” to retreat across but it is hard to see what could be shiny enough to make Vladimir Putin reverse his course. On the contrary, his intent appears to be: damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead.
His recklessness has direct implications for Canada’s sovereignty. Russia’s rapid militarization in the Arctic has been designed to support expanded territorial claims in the North as the polar ice melts, exposing new sea routes and oil and gas reserves.
Russia has submitted data to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf that essentially lays claim to the entire Arctic Ocean, including areas that Canada and Denmark also claim.
The establishment of deep-water ports with military icebreakers and airfields with Su-34 fighter bombers takes on a new gravity, in the wake of Putin’s unprovoked assault on Ukraine.
For the rest of this column: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/john-ivison-ukraine-crisis-a-reminder-why-we-need-to-make-our-true-north-very-strong