Most Canadians pay little attention to the military today. There was a brief period, while our soldiers were engaged in Afghanistan, where we united in displays of patriotism as the fallen were returned. First responders and ordinary citizens alike lined the “Highway of Heroes” in Ontario in truly heartwarming homage.
The government of Louis St. Laurent in the 1950s was perhaps the last one to take national defense seriously. As a founding member of NATO, facing the perceived communist threat, Canada spent the money necessary to field a well-equipped army, navy and air force. As late as 1960 defense spending was over four percent of GDP. The RCAF had thousands of up-to-date aircraft. The RCN had destroyers, and even aircraft carriers.
I won’t try to catalogue the decline since. If I were a politician, I might well have agreed that defense spending isn’t a vote getter, and supported some of the cuts that freed up money for more proven vote getters, like social programs. Scrapping the HMCS Bonaventure in 1970, immediately after an expensive refit, likely cost the Liberals few votes in the 1972 election. Pierre Trudeau cashed in the “peace dividend” long before the end of the Cold War.
“Military procurement” is the term used for acquiring new kit for the armed forces. I’m not going to talk about the miserable performance of replacing the 1970s designed CF-18 fighter planes, nor the replacement of rusted-out navy vessels. Let alone the disastrous purchase of used submarines. I’m going to talk about the most basic, least complicated weapon our soldiers carry. A pistol.
When you see a car from 1900 the changes in technology since then are obvious and striking. A handgun from the same era? Not so much. Unlike aircraft, nothing revolutionary in handguns has happened in easily 100 years.
The Canadian forces have been equipped with a 1930s-design side arm, the Browning Hi Power, since WWII. More than a decade ago the Forces pointed out that parts were no longer available for these weapons, and that they must be replaced. Remember, we’re not talking about high-tech things like frigates or fighter planes. We’re talking about a pistol. After a dozen years of review, the government chose a replacement. That’s right – it took more than a decade to choose a new pistol.
People who follow the news may be aware of the shocking rate of gun violence in Chicago. That city decided to do a gun buy back. No questions asked, you could surrender a firearm and get $100. Chicago pulled in thousands of guns. Perhaps the PPCLI should have set up tables in strategic spots in Chicago. The regiment could have been rearmed in a week or two.
https://canadianarmytoday.com/sig-sauer-p320-to-replace-browning-hi-power-pistol/
https://www.police1.com/community-policing/articles/chicago-gun-buyback-nets-5500-weapons-roFg5pdYKV73Fbcu/