McGuinty says ‘things have changed’ with U.S. but defence ties still strong

Defence Minister David McGuinty said Monday he agreed with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s message that Canada’s relationship with the U.S. has changed, but stressed that defence ties between the two countries remained strong.

The minister added the federal government’s strategy in responding to that changing relationship was evident in recruitment numbers for the Canadian Armed Forces, which McGuinty announced have hit a 30-year high.

McGuinty’s comments came a day after Carney released a 10-minute video where he outlined his vision for diversifying and deepening Canada’s economic and defence ties with allies other than the U.S.

Carney said in the video that many of Canada’s “former strengths” based on its historically close relationship with the U.S. “have become our weaknesses — weaknesses that we must correct.”

“I think what the prime minister was indicating in his remarks was that things have changed, that we have a really important relationship to manage, and we are managing it well,” McGuinty told reporters in Ottawa on Monday when asked about Carney’s video.

“For my part — from the defence, security and intelligence side — we continue to manage that relationship well and work hand in glove together.”

He pointed to ongoing work to modernize NORAD capabilities, including over-the-horizon radar systems in the Arctic, as examples of that collaboration.

Get breaking National news

Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.

At the same time, McGuinty said government actions like boosting defence spending to two per cent of GDP, as well as the creation of the defence industrial strategy and the Defence Investment Agency, prove Canada is “moving quickly” to respond to the changing environment.

“It’s one of the reasons why we’re moving to build our military — rebuild, rearm, reinvest — which is exactly what we’re doing,” he said. “And these (military recruitment) numbers this morning, I think, reflect that.”

McGuinty said the Canadian Armed Forces brought in more than 7,000 new members in the past year, and received 44,000 applications to join the regular force — a 62 per cent jump from the year before.

“These are significant numbers,” he said, noting the enrolment numbers were 105 per cent above their target.

McGuinty said a recently announced hike to military pay and changes to medical requirements for enlistment helped push up the numbers.

But he added that he’s heard regularly from new recruits who say they are “concerned” about the state of the world, which Carney described in his Sunday video as “more dangerous and divided.”

“They want to join, and they want to support what they have described to me regularly as a project. And the project they describe is Canada,” McGuinty said.

“They are very committed to this country. They want to see Canada remain secure and sovereign.”

While McGuinty said 80 per cent of military occupations were now completely filled — up from just 18 per cent in the previous fiscal year — he acknowledged the military is still facing shortages in specific trades, such as weapons engineer technicians and marine technicians.

Still, he said the numbers released Monday showed “very positive” progress and builds momentum for the military’s objective of recruiting 8,200 members in the coming year.

“It’s an ambitious target, but it is one we believe is achievable,” the minister said.

“I think what the prime minister was indicating to Canadians is that we have an opportunity in front of us. Let’s grab the opportunity.”