Canada needs more ‘urgency’ in rebuilding its military: ex-defence chief

Rapid change in both the political and physical world must be met with a greater sense of urgency in rebuilding the Canadian Armed Forces, says retired Gen. Wayne Eyre, former chief of the defence staff.

Speaking to The West Block host Jeff Semple in an interview that aired Sunday, Eyre said he’s been encouraged by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s pledge to make generational investments in the CAF and bring Canada’s defence spending up to par with NATO allies.

But Eyre warned that the government needs to ensure Canadians understand the threats the country faces in order to maintain public support to foot the bill.

“The real danger, the critical vulnerability that the government is going to face, is if the berating from south of the border changes, and the very real threats to our country remain, the government will lose their social licence to continue,” Eyre said in the interview.

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“And that’s why they need to lead through this moment, continue to educate Canadians on the very real threats to our sovereignty, our security and our way of life.”

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After years of lagging behind NATO allies, the Carney government announced in 2025 that Canada expected to hit the alliance’s target of spending two per cent of GDP on defence that year.

The government’s 2025 budget committed the government to grow defence spending to four per cent of GDP by the end of the decade, but has yet to reveal a plan to reach that target.

The price tag will be substantial, and is not yet fully accounted for in the government’s fiscal framework. A Global News analysis of the government’s 2026 Spring Economic Statement suggests Canada will need to spend a total of $163 billion on an annual basis to meet the four per cent commitment by 2030 — $34.9 billion more annually on core defence spending compared to the government’s 2025 budget.

Asked about the lack of transparency around defence spending plans, Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in January to stay tuned to the government’s 2026 budget, expected later this year.

“Obviously when we’re going to present Budget 2026 … we’ll be looking at measures to make the Canadian economy strong and make sure that, you know, the systems and procurement we’re doing meet the NATO requirement, but at the same time that the Canadian economy can finance these big investments,” Champagne said.

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Eyre said time is of the essence, because defence investments take time to translate into actual new capabilities and “readiness” — which he defined as “our ability to respond fast enough with enough forces long enough” to a crisis.

The retired general said the CAF’s readiness has been suffering for a long time — from the end of the Cold War to the war in Afghanistan — and it can’t be changed overnight.

“We need a sense of urgency, much more of a sense of urgency in getting things done. The security environment is changing so rapidly, whether its geopolitical reordering, whether its technology, whether it’s climate change, all of those mean there’s multiple future scenarios that we could face and need to be prepared for,” Eyre told Semple.

“In the face of that uncertainty, the nation’s ultimate insurance policy is the military. And so getting things done as quickly as possible in terms of capability procurement? Essential.”