April 6, 2021 | Local, C4ISR
Canada’s Defense Strategy Falls Behind in the Quantum Age
Spurred on by recent quantum computing milestones, a global “quantum race” is underway—but Canada is still without a strategy.
December 10, 2019 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Canada is rich - and cheap
EUGENE LANG
Eugene Lang is an adjunct professor at the School of Policy Studies, Queen's University, and a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
“It's Canada, they have money,” Donald Trump said at last week's NATO summit.
Most of what the U.S. President says is either exaggerated or false, but occasionally he sums up in a sentence what everyone knows to be true.
After admonishing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the summit for Canada's failure to meet, or strive toward, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's defence-spending target of 2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Mr. Trump pointed out an inconvenient truth. The President was saying Canada is rich and cheap.
But just how rich is Canada?
Among the Group of Seven -- a group of the richest countries in the world -- Canada enjoys the third-highest per-capita income and, since 2016, has led the G7 in economic growth. Canada also has the lowest net-debt-to-GDP ratio among those same seven countries, and the second-lowest national-government-deficit-to-GDP ratio. Which means, in essence, that Canada is the third-richest country in the G7 and the best in class with government finances.
Successive governments in Ottawa have spent 20 years boasting about this strong national balance sheet to Canadians at every turn, and telling anyone abroad who would listen. This is why Mr. Trump knows that Canada does indeed have money. We are rich, at least compared with most other countries.
But are we cheap?
Canada spends about 1.3 per cent of GDP on national defence, tying us for fourth with Italy within the G7. Yet, Ottawa has never fully accepted the validity of the defence-spending-to-GDP measure. Both the Harper government – which signed the Wales Declaration, enshrining the 2-per-cent NATO target – and the Trudeau government have claimed input measures such as the GDP ratio don't tell the full story, and that output indicators are more meaningful. The defence output measure that is best understood is the extent to which a country's military is engaged in operations internationally. On that score, Canada looks terrible. We have fewer troops deployed abroad today on NATO, United Nations and other multilateral missions than in decades.
To be sure, having influence internationally and carrying your fair share of global responsibility entails much more than the size or engagement of your military. Official Development Assistance (ODA), or foreign aid, is another important measure in this connection.
Canada also ranks fourth among G7 countries in ODA as a percentage of gross national income (GNI). However, Ottawa is spending only 0.28 per cent, up slightly from 0.26 per cent last year, the lowest level this century. Fifty years ago, a World Bank Commission report, titled Partners in Development, recommended developed countries spend 0.7 per cent of GNI on aid. That Commission was chaired by Lester Pearson, former prime minister of Canada, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and a Canadian icon. Over the years, various Canadian governments have paid homage to Mr. Pearson's vision. Yet in the five decades since his report was published, Canada has rarely reached half of the Pearson target in any given year.
Whether Ottawa likes or doesn't like input or output measures, or GDP or GNI ratios, doesn't really matter in the world of international politics. For better or worse, these are the indicators that are used to compare and assess the degree to which countries are living up to their obligations and responsibilities internationally. Imperfect as they are, these are measures of burden sharing. They are the statistics countries look at when considering whether Canada or any other country is pulling its weight globally.
And on these measures, Canada looks middling at best, and bad at worst, by both international comparative standards. At the same time, we are among the world leaders in economic growth among developed countries, and we have held the gold medal in public finances for years. Rich and cheap, as it were.
That was the essence of Mr. Trump's criticism of Canada this week at the NATO Summit. And foreign governments the world over know it to be true.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-canada-is-rich-and-cheap/
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May 7, 2019 | Local, Aerospace
Swedish companies like Saab, a best-fit for Canada’s innovation agenda
By Simon Carroll Like Canadians, Swedes are natural innovators. When faced with challenges like a shifting global economy, the threat of climate change or the rapidly evolving landscape of modern national defence – both countries adapt and innovate based on evidence, reason and shared progressive values. This is so much the case that Swedish and Canadian governments are both actively implementing innovation agendas intended not only to grow their respective high-tech and aerospace industries (among others) from the inside-out, but to help them access and leverage the very best global talent and expertise in these fields. Canada's Innovation and Skills Plan, for instance, seeks to encourage greater business investments in research and to capitalize on Canadian inventions through “shared risk taking and partnerships”. The more Canada and Sweden build and use these partnerships to innovate together, the stronger both countries will be, now and in the future. At Saab, we believe opportunities to develop and grow partnerships with Canadian government and industry are not only a ‘good fit' – we believe these opportunities will help actualize Canada's ambitious innovation vision for decades to come. In large part, Swedish companies are well-positioned to help Canada reach its innovation goals because innovation is inherent in their DNA. Sweden is consistently judged one of the world's most innovative countries by the annual Bloomberg Innovation Index, which placed Sweden second in 2018 (behind South Korea and ahead of Singapore, Germany and Switzerland), and by the World Intellectual Property Organization's Global Innovation Index, which ranks Sweden among the top three countries. This level of recognition is well-earned. Swedes are early adopters of new technologies, are highly trend-sensitive and, collectively, produce one per cent of the world's knowledge while constituting less than one-thousandth of the world's population. The Swedish government formalized this innovative spirit in 2001 when it created the national Innovation Agency, Vinnova – one of the first of its kind in the world. Of course, Sweden has long been home to a suite of classically innovative and instantly-recognizable brands like Volvo, Ikea, and Ericsson, but its government's exceptional focus on innovation in recent decades has grown this small but mighty nation's startup hub into a full-blown entrepreneurial powerhouse. By no coincidence, Sweden has produced more “$100 million-plus IPO exits” than any other country in the world, with examples including popular music streaming platform Spotify and the financial technology company iZettle. Having research-intensive companies, such as Saab, is yet another reason Sweden does so well in global innovation rankings. The majority of Saab's people are trained engineers and around 23 per cent of its total revenues are spent on research and development (R&D) every year. That's a lot compared with other companies, but it's what it takes to think ahead and develop products and solutions with future capabilities in mind. The Swedish approach to future technology generation is one that actively combines government- and university-based research and development capabilities with those of industry to solve common problems and to develop new, unique solutions. Harnessing the unique talents and energy contributed by each of these spheres builds a strong engine for innovative thinking and new technology development – all of which is central to Saab's corporate ethos. Saab Canada is already an extensive supplier of military equipment to the Canadian Armed Forces – from radars and sensors for the Royal Canadian Navy to ground combat weapons and signature management systems for the Canadian Army – as well as supplying transponders to the Canadian Coast Guard and maritime traffic management systems to the Great Lakes Pilotage Authority. Saab is also partnered with many small, medium and large-sized Canadian companies up and down its supply chain, across all of its product areas from Nova Scotia-based MilAero for electrical cable assemblies, to Bombardier with its Global 6000 business jet used for GlobalEye, an airborne early warning and control solution. As a contender for Canada's future fighter jet program, Saab's ‘future-proof' Gripen E aircraft presents even greater opportunities for collaboration and development activities between the military and aerospace sectors of both countries. These kinds of partnerships mean that Canadian companies not only benefit from Saab's innovative thinking, but are also empowered to further develop their own, Canadian-made innovations that can then be exported worldwide – generating economic benefits right here in Canada. Looking to the future, Saab will continue working closely with our Canadian partners to pursue opportunities here and abroad, where we can build on existing collaboration and continue to strengthen the innovation that runs deep in our respective countries. https://ipolitics.ca/2019/05/06/swedish-companies-like-saab-a-best-fit-for-canadas-innovation-agenda/
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March 23, 2024 | Local, Land
The RCAF laces up for the 2024 RCAF Run
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) is thrilled to announce the launch of the 2024 RCAF Run, an exciting event that will see participants from across Canada come together to celebrate fitness, community, and the spirit of aviation. Set against the RCAF's Centennial celebrations, the 2024 RCAF Run promises a memorable and meaningful experience for participants of all fitness levels.