Canadian defence minister speaks about upcoming Navy ships, national defence budget

Thursday marked a milestone for the Canadian Navy with the beginning of construction on the long-awaited “Canadian Surface Combatant” ships.

A total of 15 of the ships are set to be built to replace retired destroyers and frigates, but it comes with an estimated price tag between $56-billion to $60-billion.

While the official cutting of steel for the ships is beginning Friday, Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair says the ships are still years away.

“We’re very hopeful that with the cutting of steel that we’ll be able to deliver the very first of these ships by the early 2030s. Hopefully nine of them by 2040, and ultimately all 15 of them being delivered by the 2050s,” said Blair in an interview with CTV’s Bruce Frisko on Thursday.

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Blair also introduced a defence plan in April, which goes by the name “Our North Strong and Free,” and calls for more recruitment for the armed forces – something he feels Canada can do better on.

“People are really at the heart of everything we do with national defence, and it’s critically important we get the right people. I’m confident that Canadians want an opportunity to serve their country, we’ve got to make it possible for them to get into a career in the Canadian Armed Forces as easily as possible,” he said.

“Secondly, we have some outstanding people now, and we have to make it possible for them to serve by addressing some of the concerns they raise in respect to housing, child care, health care, and affordability issues.”

Canada has been pushing to increase the national defence spending as they have been unable to reach the target number for decades. As members of NATO, the country is supposed to be hitting the two per cent mark.

Blair said upcoming plans as part of “Our North Strong and Free,” will help the country reach that target figure.

“We’ve indicated some other things, not yet fully budgeted, but that we know we must do. For example, investments in integrated air missile defence for our country and continent, investments in a new fleet of submarines to replace the Victoria Class submarines, those investments in addition to what was already articulated in this defence policy update and appeared already in our budget 2024. Those new investments will inevitably take us to two per cent,” said Blair.

“I think our job is to assure our allies, the Americans and our NATO allies, that Canada is stepping up. Our defence budget, for example, next year over this is going to increase 27 per cent. It’s really important that we get real value for Canadians for that huge investment in defence.”

“We know we have a lot of work to do, we know we’ve got to make big investments, I also know it’s my responsibility that I deliver real value for Canadians for their investments in national defence.”

Other parties weigh in

Shadow Minister for National Defence, James Bezan, responded in part to the minister’s comments saying: “Not only has the Trudeau government failed to recruit enough sailors to the Royal Canadian Navy, our warships are rusting out and aging faster than expected leaving our navy incapable… It is clear the Trudeau government doesn’t care about our military and doesn’t take our national defence and security seriously.”

Federal NDP MP Lindsay Mathyssen also responded, adding: “Almost half of the CAF's equipment doesn't work due to deep cuts from the Conservative government and the Liberals unwillingness to invest properly. A New Democratic government will build a strong domestic manufacturing base to deliver the equipment the Canadian Armed Forces and Canadian Coast Guard need.”