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Not sure what rank or regiment have to do with the topic, , unless we are pulling our penises to measure who's is biggest....but MWO, and RCR... the question I asked was how do you see our military today, it's strength , numbers, equipment even training. The impression I get is your not familiar with what is happening on the inside, infact a lot of Canadians are not, because if they did I think they would demand change now.... The reason I ask is there is a huge difference between what is actually taking place on the ground, and what is being reported by our government and senior staff of DND. One can not just read a few quotes on the intra net and claim that is what is happening in the forces, or sort of fill in the blanks and assume things are good.....because they are not..I'll give you a few examples, the LAV 6.0, which was a program designed to replace the old and tired LAV III , New vehs were suppose to be ordered, to replace all the LAV III, both battle damaged or destroyed vehs from Afghanistan and what was still being used in Canada. Funding was cut...what happened was the LAV III was in Half, the bottom half was discarded, a new and improved bottom half welded back on, the top half was the same old tired LAV III tech we had in Afghanistan, then it was rushed into service without any trails and evals being done, these were being done while units were receiving the vehs...major problems with tires, brakes, the list goes on and on....It should be noted that the Saudi's ordered over 12 Bil dollars worth of the LAV 6.0, the two vehs are not even close to being the same....we got the cheap of the cheapest version, and this is one of the most modern piece of equipment we have. Our Leo IIA4 we just bought are decades behind the tech curve, Germany now is working on the Leo IIA8, we have NO self propelled Arty, our air defense equipment is in storage, most of our SMP vehs sit in field rusting away, because they are no longer safe to drive, that includes the LSVW, MLVW, HLVW, Yes there are massive purchase projects in the works, PS these trucks were taken off the road in 2013....well over 70% of the fleet , to compensate the regular force raided Reserve force equipment such as the MSVS, with no lift units can not deploy any where, unless it is done with school bus, or civilian tractor trailers.... You want to compare our frigates with what is out there today, the first one launched in 1988, yes they have been refitted, lots of nice little goodies put into them, refitted started in 2007 finished in 2016, yes they are relevant in todays climate, but they are not state of the art, Naval tech moves to fast for that....see Zumwalt class for an example. Our drone force is long gone...used up in Afghanistan, and once they returned , they were no longer supported.... https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/02/28/liberals-drone-shopping-exercise-sets-stage-for-debate-over-lethal-force_n_9341934.html What procurements are happening, the purchase of 18 used F-18 from Australia, what other projects are even close to making it to fruition…..most if not all have been postpone until after the 2019 election... Training has been slashed unless your going on a tour, those that are not on tour get to do very little unit training....lets not talk about battle group or brigade level training a vital aspect of training any army.... I don't want you to take my word for it, I want you to do some research dig into it yourself....and you'll be surprised at what you find...things are not what they say they are on the ground....they never are. How much of the military budget is being returned every year do to restrictive purchase policies making it impossible for not only DND to purchase equipment, but also PWSG who now handles all DND major purchases....Shit we can't even buy sleeping bags for our troops, or things like trucks...Something has to raise a red flag I mean come on it is smacking us in the face and we refuse to look at it....

I just don't see the break down. My love of this country is pretty strong, not just for what I have received from it, but because it is a great place to live. My family began coming to British North America about four centuries ago. The ancestors of my training Officer at the U of S have lived here for thousands of years and he too, is happy to be a Canadian. At the Canada Day celebrations, there were lots of new Canadians who obviously love living here. In Saskatoon, we celebrate Folk Fest in August. Various ethic organizations create Pavillions to show off their cultures. There are Croation, Jewish, French, Metis, First Nations, Fillipino, Chinese, Ukranian (sometimes two Ukranian pavillions) German, Dutch, Norwegian, Greek, African, Irish, and Scottish...those are just the ones I can name off the top of my head. City Transit has special buses that go from Pavillion to Pavillion and your fare is your Folkfest passport. It is a great "international" party except that it is Canadian and a celebration of our blended culture. Wonderful food, music and exhibits. It is a powerful demonstration of unity and fellowship. Canada is a wonderful country because we benifit from ideas and cultures from all over the world. Do I believe we are over populated? Yes. Do I believe our Sovereign Queen Elizabeth is anointed by God? In my gut, yes. Am I right? Even I know the answer on that one. You mention the White Knight. WE are the white knights. We are the authors of our own fortune. Not President Trump, not Justin Trudeau or even the Queen. We are a community that pulls together.

That's weird, I was just watching BBC News who said 4 are out and 10 hours in between operations. Quite the task, two divers with each boy, total of 90 divers. I wish them all well and a speedy recovery.

Enough is enough. The cumulative fiascos no longer make this a partisan issue. It's not about Liberal or Conservative - it's about the competency of this individual for the office of Prime Minister. He's embarrassed Canada on the world stage with his India trip and now this. He has aliented just about every country that he's asked to meet with - Japan and its PM Abe (not showing for the TPP signing), China (trying to lecture them on gender equality, etc....instead of talking trade), India (say no more), the US and Trump, Belgium (not meeting with the Royal couple). Add to that his complete ignorance on domestic issues - and his sickening virtue-signalling that has led directly to the flood of illegal migrants. It's crystal clear that he hasn't "grown into" the job as some had optimistically hoped - not does he appear to have any desire or capability to do so. As I said - it's not partisan. He's totally incompetent - unable to explain anything more complicated than red fish, blue fish. The sooner he's gone, the sooner Canada can reclaim some semblance of integrity. Bring on Marc Garneau - who should have been chosen. And yes - it is that bad.

Yes, you got it wrong. Nations around the world are watching the cave rescue intently because they care more about soccer players than terrorists. Same thing happened when miners were trapped in Chile. Syria...not so much.

We have a northern border, too, with Russia. And isn't global warming melting the ice away? Isn't there supposed to be such a change there could be a passage there in the near future? What about all the resources in the north we've claimed? The boundaries up there have no agreement. Russia claims much of it, including what we've claimed. Suppose as the ice melts they move into 'our' territory and start exploring for oil, and actually find it? What do we do? Send a polite note? Because right now there's nothing else we could do. We don't' even have an icebreaker capable of travelling up there, nor any other kind of ship, except in summer. The Russians do, though, and are building more. They anticipate there will be a lot of natural resources that will become very valuable as the ice melts.

And see how painless that was and we didn't have to spend a Canadian dime to try and stop you. I hope you had a great time. I wish I could invade Vancouver more often.

Look, we already invaded you, get over it. In fact I invaded Vancouver two months ago. Spent 3 grand invading you.

Jacee, that is bullshit and you know it, They're are to many reasons those vets are taking their lives, lack of support from the government , citizens, lack of resources made available to them to treat PTSD, their are shit tonnes of reasons, with no direct proof that it was because it was all for nothing.....if anything it was for the troop on their left and right of you....not because your country wanted oil, or to line their pockets....

This is what they get for failing to fashion their education system after Klingon military prep schools. They're throwing snowflakes into battle with a moral underpinning that is thoroughly inadequate for the job they've been tasked with. These vets should be coming home bursting with pride not shame.

I accept your defeat on the point.

OK...on a per capita basis...Canada is also a NATO deadbeat.

Right, so proportionally the U.S. has admitted less than half of the refugees that Canada has in relation to our countries’ population sizes.

You mean the American model of hegemony manifest destiny and imperialistic veto you so vigorously promote? Assuming China lends you the money you need.

How do you see the military ? How does your peer group see the military ? I spent a long time serving , talked to shit tonnes of Canadians about many military topics, and for the most part they all sprout the same tune....Yes we support out military, a lot even went out and purchased those bumper stickers " I support our troops" , mostly because they did not want to be called out when it was not popular to NOT support our military....The question is Do they really support our military ? and if so how far do they support them, to the point they want it properly equipped, funded for training , materials and supplies, , would they use they're personal time to say write a letter to there're MP's , start a petition do something of value that would bring light the true condition of our military... I have been to Ottawa, seen all the sites , in and out of uniform, on official duties and non official such as war museum, all the different memorials dedicated to those troops that have died, sacrificed for this nation...All the more reason to state what I have stated... our nation should not just remember those troops on Nov 11, nor should they erect some monument and call it even our military is made up of Canadian citizens that decided to sacrifice everything for very little in return....our part is to ensure they have the training, and equipment to do that job....and we have failed big time...next time we say we support the troops we should ask ourselves , how much.... Not sure where you get your info on our tech or how we are equipped, which is laughable really, we fly aircraft that are coming up on 40 years old, our ships are no better, they army which is considered the best equipped in our military is decades behind most NATO nations, and you could put in a lot of 3 world nations as well. I mean if you want a list I could give you one...a goggle search would provide better results....shit DND web site list everything we have , including the year we purchased it....DND , and our government has pulled the wool over a lot of Canadians eyes....Our military is in trouble, not only equipment wise, but training , and manpower wise, not to mention infra structure wise. Because of all these shortages, we are bleeding off capabilities and knowledge like never before. Canada can not occupy, police. or rebuild anything with it's military, not with out major US support, but lets not talk about those guys....we don't like them....we need them , but we don't like them.....or should I say most Canadians.... the problem with is not the competition for funding , but the lack of will to spend it or use it on projects and programs that will not produce votes.... Canada was never intended to be more than a supporting country, but we are failing in that big time....to the point we need more support than we can contribute....And the US is getting tired of it...they are telling us get your shit together, it's time you pay your own way.....can you blame them....and to top it all off what do we do, poke them in the eye, call them names, war mongers, among other things.....shit I know i'm tired of it....Im not the only service person out there that thinks the same way....

Russia out. Putin piano lessons did not pay off.

I think the more important metric to consider is overall funding of international development and security as a percentage of GDP if we want to talk about important contributions that countries make to the world. For example, Iraq had a million soldiers. North Korea has a massive military, but how much have these forces contributed to international development and security? I realize that military plays an important role in international security, but security requires more than that. The trick is to help countries build a middle class, so that people have communities and businesses to protect rather than trying to blow countries out of the water, taking their stuff, and causing mass migration, which creates instability and organizations like Isis. It means winning hearts and minds. Canada plays an important role in soft power. You need both in the toolkit, strong military and values.

I believe in equal opportunity not legislative equality or statistical equality or any entitlement mentality. Especially when it comes to immigration, illegal immigration is unfair to those who are willing to put up with the time, effort and large amount of money to go through our long vetting process. Immigration is not a right, it is a privilege and opportunity the host nation has graciously offer. How that host nation decides who gets in is up to the policy maker. But immigrants are in no position to "demand" anything. For the love of Vishnu could you not reply with an essay. Please just keep it concise and to the point, I don't see the need for long convoluted examples. No offense, just really difficult to read an essay on my mobile device while praising our dear leader Trump

I would like to point out to no one in particular that debate and discussion advances the public dialogue and presents closure on bad arguments as well as challenging incomplete ones. If you come to the site to discuss immigration then you do not have all the answers, no matter who you are. Please see the debate as a collaborative effort and a kind of non-zero-sum-game if you like. There is no winning or losing in this, unless you refuse to play properly. The "good" thing about times like these is that it allows both sides to examine its fundamentals and explore new ideas, especially with regards to immigration, trade and the culmination of such policies into a future vision.

I think this is true for many immigrants, as the need for cheap labour has been the principle driver for immigration over U.S. history (not the Statue of Liberty motto), slavery notwithstanding (slaves were not immigrants). Immigrants from Europe and Asia flooded America in controlled spurts, working hard (and some dying) in industry, railroads, mining, agriculture, military, etc. They still faced discrimination and other challenges upon arrival, but that was just part of paying their dues, making some super patriots. That's because they knew what it was like not to have such opportunities (or worse) back home.

Trump is right - NATO countries are not paying what they agreed. Canada agreed to give up the development of military weapons (Avro Arrow) and never develop nuclear weapons as part of an agreement with the U.S. when we joined NORAD. The U.S. does not want nuclear weapons on its doorstep, even from a friendly country. Our so-called "military" buys American made junk and exists basically as an expeditionary force to send off on "peacekeeping" missions around the world in concert with whatever the U.S. tells us to do. Except for Vietnam, we cleverly avoided that mess. And the disaster in Iraq. The reason the U.S. spends more on military that the top 26 countries combined, 25 of whom are Allies, is due to an out-of-control Military Industrial Complex that controls congress and gets whatever it wants, and an irrational fear of Russia (as evidenced by the Muh-Russia election interference baloney). Sorry General Patton, you missed your chance to fight Russia at the end of WW2. Now they got nukes so any fightin' will have to be in proxy wars in tinpot dictatorships opposing the dreaded "commie insurgence". You could easily pay for basic socialized health care for all citizens if you just cut down that wild military spending a tad. Otherwise, yes I agree, and see no reason for the U.S. to have military bases spread out all over the world. They're useless and expensive to maintain.

Well...they found their way in there...they should find their way out. (Anticipating the vehement denunciations of my character for even thinking of such a callous thing.)