CPC Jeopardized Canadian Security At Home

[Catchme]

You know, the CPC really are bouncing from failure in knowinghow to govern Canada to another failure. Just what will be next?

Canadians should be alarmed, MP says

"It's obvious they don't have money for fuel or personnel," Nova Scotia NDP MP Peter Stoffer said.

Stoffer called it "very disappointing" that the navy ships are tied up, and said Canadians should be alarmed.

"Not having these ships patrol leaves a big hole in our security," he said. "You can have illegal immigrants, drug traffickers, people who want to do us harm or harm our neighbours.

"The Americans have consistently accused Canada of having leaky security measures, and this will just prove to them that we are not even patrolling our own coasts for security measures."

Simply unbelievable, and a Senator Kenny called it, and O'Connor was shown to be a liar. Funny some say we are in AAfghanistan, to protect us here at home. That has sure been proven to be a lie, on many levels.

Senator Colin Kenny criticized the apparent lack of funding, and asked why Canada has a navy if there's no money for the ships to patrol the coast.

"It's not a good thing to run out of money," said Kenny, chair of the Senate's security and defence committee. "I think it's because of the extra costs with oil and the demands of Afghanistan."

Of course O'Connor lied and denied this was true but lookie here:

The Defence Department will spend almost $1.5 billion on the mission in Afghanistan this fiscal year. At the same time, the money the navy has to send ships to sea has been cut by about 10 per cent.

CBC full story.

[Ricki Bobbi]

CBC full story.

Another CBC hit piece posted by Catchme.

Good work sir!

[Shakeyhands]

yes, the CBC is pure evil

Are we refuting what was said or just the poster?

[Cameron]

"I think it's because of the extra costs with oil and the demands of Afghanistan."

Soooo you don't actually know...you just "think" it's the problem. Glad to see Senators going out of their way to find answers....

Second, the NDP is a bunch of hacks. They speak up about military spending down here, then complain when there is a shortfall....good work.

[Ricki Bobbi]

Are we refuting what was said or just the poster?

Since the CPC's resolution of the problem has come within two hours of the original CBC broadcast I will say both.

Minister O'Connor just approved an extra $3.5 Million.

The Government doesn't move that quickly so something tells me the extra funding was already in the works.

So instead of giving the Minister a day to deal with the issue the CBC added to its attack on an issue that it wouldn't have to apologize about later. They got into too much trouble over that one...

Oh look at that a good news story on the Harper Government and the environment gets pushed to fourth place in the lineup. I guess the environment is only the most important issue to Canadian voters when the CBC can make the Government look bad over the issue...

[Saturn]

There is a huge surprise. The military is spending billions on equipment to be purchased from friends at possibly excessive cost but they can't find $3.5 million for a single ship to patrol our coast. Nice work. Of course after this becomes public, O'Connor immediately finds the $3.5 million because this looks really bad and he doesn't want to look bad before an election. I guess it's up to the journalists to keep us safe, because our own government doesn't care about our safety unless their gross incompetence becomes public knowledge.

[geoffrey]

It's a rather major issue IMO. The biggest threat to Canada right now isn't the Commies coming over the poles or Afghanistan, but the drugs and people traffickers invading our coastlines. My number one defense policy would be to dramatically increase the power of the Canadian Navy and Coast Guard to better protect Canadians.

This is a big suprise from a defense friendly government. Perhaps some priorities need to be adjusted?

[Catchme]

Are we refuting what was said or just the poster?

Since the CPC's resolution of the problem has come within two hours of the original CBC broadcast I will say both.

Minister O'Connor just approved an extra $3.5 Million.

The Government doesn't move that quickly so something tells me the extra funding was already in the works.

Don't think you're right in this, in fact quite the opposite, as the funds won't be available for a couple of days, to the E and W Martime bases, and so anyone who wants to come into Canada over the next couple of days, will have free and open access to do so.

Again, the public and the opposition, had to scream before the CPC realized how silly and insane saying; "sorry, you gotta park our Maritime marine security boats, you got no funds".

Dumb dum and dumber!

[jdobbin]

It's a rather major issue IMO. The biggest threat to Canada right now isn't the Commies coming over the poles or Afghanistan, but the drugs and people traffickers invading our coastlines. My number one defense policy would be to dramatically increase the power of the Canadian Navy and Coast Guard to better protect Canadians.

This is a big suprise from a defense friendly government. Perhaps some priorities need to be adjusted?

I was a bit surprised to hear about this. It is good that the government has kicked in some money now but it means that for around a week or more there will be no patrol on Canada's high seas. This is the very thing the Tories used to hammer the Liberals on. They used to say Canada was letting down NATO and its own security.

[geoffrey]

I was a bit surprised to hear about this. It is good that the government has kicked in some money now but it means that for around a week or more there will be no patrol on Canada's high seas. This is the very thing the Tories used to hammer the Liberals on. They used to say Canada was letting down NATO and its own security.

I wonder how many illegals and drugs will enter Canada during this time. We've essientially just left the country open for whoever wants to enter for a week until our ships can be fueled up. For a party that's tough on crime, this is a major gap in their policy. It's very ugly for Harper.

It's actually frankly embarassing for Canadians.

Hopefully the Americans come down hard on this. The threat to our's and their national security is huge.

[blueblood]

I was a bit surprised to hear about this. It is good that the government has kicked in some money now but it means that for around a week or more there will be no patrol on Canada's high seas. This is the very thing the Tories used to hammer the Liberals on. They used to say Canada was letting down NATO and its own security.

I wonder how many illegals and drugs will enter Canada during this time. We've essientially just left the country open for whoever wants to enter for a week until our ships can be fueled up. For a party that's tough on crime, this is a major gap in their policy. It's very ugly for Harper.

It's actually frankly embarassing for Canadians.

Hopefully the Americans come down hard on this. The threat to our's and their national security is huge.

We're talking about 1 ship patrolling thousands of miles of coastline though. Illegal drugs and immigrants come in anyways too, I guess its the symbolism that counts...

[jdobbin]

We're talking about 1 ship patrolling thousands of miles of coastline though. Illegal drugs and immigrants come in anyways too, I guess its the symbolism that counts...

Part of asserting Canada's sovereignty is the patrols. Are you suggesting we should have our ships tied up to save money?

[madmax]

CBC full story.

Another CBC hit piece posted by Catchme.

Good work sir!

If Peter Stoffer says the ships are grounded, and the CPC are going to do something about it, then that is a good thing.

[madmax]

Second, the NDP is a bunch of hacks.

I haven't heard anything "stupid" come from Peter Stoffer yet. Infact what I have heard from him, tends to make alot of sense. And when he does say something stupid, I will mention that too.

I think it is important to have the fuel needed to defend our coast.

[Ricki Bobbi]

Don't think you're right in this, in fact quite the opposite, as the funds won't be available for a couple of days, to the E and W Martime bases, and so anyone who wants to come into Canada over the next couple of days, will have free and open access to do so.

Again, the public and the opposition, had to scream before the CPC realized how silly and insane saying; "sorry, you gotta park our Maritime marine security boats, you got no funds".

Dumb dum and dumber!

You honestly think the Government watches the National and responds within a couple of hours by spending additional millions of dollars???

Geoff is right. One boat will make that big of a difference? Where would these people wanting to come in from be based? Are they sitting watching the National waiting for stories of this Nature and ready to pounce?

There is real irony in a typo in the last line of your post.

[jdobbin]

CTV report:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...0118?hub=Canada

The National Post reported on Thursday that the Defence Department is asking Ottawa to more than double its annual funding to $36.6 billion by 2025, and wants more than 30 projects focused on Arctic sovereignty approved.

Though the navy had planned activities worth roughly $315 million this fiscal year, their funding ended up being $290 million, Lieutenant Marie-Claude Gagne, a Maritime Command spokeswoman on the East Coast, said Wednesday, according to The Globe.

[Fortunata]

O'Connor says navy shortfalls are not due to the Afghanistan mission. But yet Navy funding had been cut. This from the party that says they are the party that will defend our sovereignty, especially in the arctic. Remember Steve rebuking Wilkins? Where is all this infrastructure that they talked about? They can't even keep the navy fueled for southern patrols, let alone fund the northern promises.

[geoffrey]

You honestly think the Government watches the National and responds within a couple of hours by spending additional millions of dollars???

Geoff is right. One boat will make that big of a difference? Where would these people wanting to come in from be based? Are they sitting watching the National waiting for stories of this Nature and ready to pounce?

There is real irony in a typo in the last line of your post.

The fact that we only have one boat to do this is a little concerning to me as well.

[Saturn]

The fact that we only have one boat to do this is a little concerning to me as well.

We don't have just one boat. But there was only one boat the navy thought they had the money to run and then it turned out that they don't have the money to run it. It's nice that we will be buying $20 billion worth of military equipment over the next few years. It will just sit and rust because we won't be able to afford to operate it.

[Ricki Bobbi]

We don't have just one boat. But there was only one boat the navy thought they had the money to run and then it turned out that they don't have the money to run it. It's nice that we will be buying $20 billion worth of military equipment over the next few years. It will just sit and rust because we won't be able to afford to operate it.

No they won't. Where do you come up with such fallacies???

[geoffrey]

How much of the spending is on our defense and how much is on offensive weaponary.

Strategic lift makes sense, that applies domestically in times of emergency. Coastal defense makes sense with all the people smugglers and drugs entering from our largely unpatrolled coasts (biggest coastline in the world and I can promise we don't have the biggest coastal defense force).

What else are we spending on? Can we afford to keep them?

[Canadian Blue]

Peter Stoffer is one of the more rational NDP MP's, as compared to Jack Layton who seem's very radical. If Stoffer was leader I'd consider voting for him, but I doubt it'll ever happen, and I doubt the NDP will ever adopt "third way" policies.

[Argus]

It sounds to me like there were internal decisions made within DND which dropped the priority too low for in this particular area. I highly doubt the decision went up to the political level until O'Connor heard about it, where he responded promptly.

I'm again struck by the sheer ignorance and vapid hypocrisy of the Harper haters here. Not only were navy ships and coast guard vessels routinely tired up at wharf for YEARS under the Chretien regime for lack of fuel and manpower, but funding for police and border security was repeatedly cut.

And none of them said boo. Instead they cheered every time they saw Chretien's face, and are now scrambling frantically to get his acolyte back into power so things can return to the way they were.

[jdobbin]

It sounds to me like there were internal decisions made within DND which dropped the priority too low for in this particular area. I highly doubt the decision went up to the political level until O'Connor heard about it, where he responded promptly.

I'm again struck by the sheer ignorance and vapid hypocrisy of the Harper haters here. Not only were navy ships and coast guard vessels routinely tired up at wharf for YEARS under the Chretien regime for lack of fuel and manpower, but funding for police and border security was repeatedly cut.

And none of them said boo. Instead they cheered every time they saw Chretien's face, and are now scrambling frantically to get his acolyte back into power so things can return to the way they were.

So Harper gets a pass for now doing the same thing?

[Ricki Bobbi]

It sounds to me like there were internal decisions made within DND which dropped the priority too low for in this particular area. I highly doubt the decision went up to the political level until O'Connor heard about it, where he responded promptly.

I'm again struck by the sheer ignorance and vapid hypocrisy of the Harper haters here. Not only were navy ships and coast guard vessels routinely tired up at wharf for YEARS under the Chretien regime for lack of fuel and manpower, but funding for police and border security was repeatedly cut.

And none of them said boo. Instead they cheered every time they saw Chretien's face, and are now scrambling frantically to get his acolyte back into power so things can return to the way they were.

So Harper gets a pass for now doing the same thing?

He doesn't get a pass. But it wasn't a priority, and he has still taken more steps in the right direction in a year than the Liberals took in 13.