Protecting Our Uncommon Commons: A "letter" to the Prime Minister

...if I met the new Prime Minister, this would be my advice

If I was to write a letter to the next Prime Minister on national defence and deterrence, it might look something like this.

Dear Prime Minister,

Congratulations on your recent victory in the federal election. I applaud your willingness to subject yourself to the scrutiny of public opinion, the media, and opposition parties. Even after 30 years in the Army, I would prefer dealing with an enemy on the battlefield as opposed to your daily political reality. Everyone needs to find their way to serve and I thank you for taking on this responsibility during a critical time in our nation’s history.

Our chance meeting on a local hiking trail led to some interesting discussions about national defence and deterrence. It was encouraging how honest you were about your lack of knowledge on defence and how the political class has low literacy on these issues. I appreciate you inviting me to share my thoughts on the subject. I found you far more “normal” in person than you come across in politician mode. I’m not sure who gives politicians advice about how to act, but they should all be replaced. Most Canadians just want someone authentic to lead the country. Someone smart, yes. Someone dedicated, absolutely. But someone who is also genuine, admits their mistakes, and strives to do their best for Canada. Back to the matter at hand.

Although you just formed government and have many issues competing for your attention, I believe national defence should be a priority. I’m sure you have people advising you on defence, but the language of your campaign indicated the advisors are lacking, or your party is not listening to their advice. Either way, I am concerned defence will slip back into the political shadows now that the election is over which would be a strategic error.

Clearly, the economy is at the top of everyone’s mind. Whether this is the affordability challenges faced by our citizens or the impacts of the American administration being as predictable as a toddler on a sugar high, you are undoubtably focused on economic matters. The defence of Canada underpins economic stability and prosperity. Prosperity cannot exist without a stable and secure nation. As we have seen in the first part of 2025, people avoid investing in uncertain times or in places with elevated risk. It’s one key reason why Canada has benefited from investment since the end of the second world war and less secure nations have struggled to achieve our level of prosperity.

Currently, the rest of the world does not believe Canada takes defence seriously and we have done nothing to prove them wrong. As you are acutely aware, the American security guarantee is gone and Canada will likely feel this more than most other nations based on proximity. It’s amazing how something that was a blessing for decades could end so quickly. Our over-reliance on the U.S. for defence and deterrence has resulted in our current state of military inadequacy. It is unproductive to look backwards and play the blame game. We have a national crisis which demands clear priorities and outcomes to unite the efforts of the public and private sectors to solve this problem. The focus needs to be on investments to bolster defence capabilities to generate deterrence for Canada.

You have a big hill to climb with defence, but it’s too important to rush to failure. Yes, we need to invest quickly to build our capabilities to defend and deter; however, this needs to be done in an informed manner. I encourage you and your cabinet to improve your understanding of defence before making major decisions. Canadians, politicians included, have a low defence literacy rate. An important start is the development of a national security strategy and a fleshed out national defence policy. Canadian politicians seem to dislike these policy documents because it not only means having a vision for the future, but also committing to doing difficult things. These policy documents are critical to guiding Canada’s efforts in defence. An example why understanding the problem is important before making significant investments is the much misunderstood world of defence procurement. The current procurement system certainly needs streamlining, but it serves a purpose for some investments. When you buy something complex such as a warship, you need a detailed and deliberate process - not as onerous as the current model - as we simply cannot buy everything “off the shelf”. However, when we can, we should. And, when we can’t, we need to have a variety of procurement tools to deliver the right capabilities to our uniformed citizens when they need them. Our traditional procurement mantra of “delivering yesterday’s technology tomorrow” is endangering the nation.

Even when you figure how to slay the procurement hydra, you might not have enough trained military personnel to operate that equipment. I’m certain the Chief of the Defence Staff has briefed you on the current state of the military. Despite the government and military doing a poor job of defining and communicating the purpose of the Canadian Armed Forces to the nation, citizens still want to serve. You need to start by reminding our citizens that our military’s purpose is to deter, defend, and when necessary, fight and win our wars. Everything else is secondary to that purpose. Being honest about what a military does is a critical first step. There is a social contract between a nation and its soldiers. This is a relationship built on trust where our citizens agree to give their lives, or take someone else’s, in service to Canada. If you are not honest about the purpose of the military, that relationship lacks transparency and trust from the outset. This might not seem to be an important issue, but it is. Trust is at the heart of service which contributes to recruiting and retention.

Once recruited, you need to get people into uniform at speed, train them, and get them operational as quickly as possible. Your Chief of the Defence Staff will tell you what she needs to increase the capacity to train new members of the military, but you can help the overall effort by making some immediate changes outside the military. I would begin with digital transformation. This might seem to be an odd place to start, but bear with me. The Government CIO must remove the barriers to digital transformation in the military. We need to leverage the power of digital and data to get as many Canadians into uniform as possible. As an example, the current recruiting website is not leveraging the power of the cloud to ensure every future solider can apply quickly online. When too many people use the website at the same time, the portal crashes. We cannot afford to lose a single applicant and there is no reason for this beyond an unwillingness to change. If you demand better from your Government CIO, I am confident you can put Canada on the path to a digital military before the end of 2025. As we discussed, the ability to defend and deter in any age starts with being able to gather, assess, decide, and act faster than your adversary. This can only be done in the modern age with digital tools and applications that share near real time data across a military internet of systems. Every future defence investment you make will be more effective when it’s digitally connected to the entire system. Think of how powerful it is when you connect an Apple device to your Apple network of devices? The difference between being networked or not networked is staggering. A networked military is essential for defending Canada and its citizens. Also, does a young Canadian really want to join an analog military? They’ve grown up digital and their lives are increasingly linked to the virtual world. Their job satisfaction will be measured off the seamless transition between personal and professional lives. We need digital now.

I know you expressed concern about having the expertise to not only digitally transform the military, but to integrate all of the pieces of hardware. It’s a great observation and a legitimate concern. If you were to attempt to lead this modernization effort with people inside the Government of Canada it would be disaster of epic proportions - a true dumpster fire. The good news is Canada has a private sector that is designed to solve these problems. You just have to let them. Our government must become comfortable with offloading complexity and risk to the private sector and defence industry. Gone are the days when technology was developed by governments and eventually trickled into society. The private sector is leading the charge with defence technology and you need to leverage this to your advantage. If you focus your efforts on properly designed contracts, selecting companies that can reduce the risk of delayed delivery or increased costs, and investing in areas of Canadian industry where we are proven experts, you will be amazed at the pace of modernization. This will not only transform our military, but inject billions into our economy and supercharge innovation.

None of this works unless you sort out government incentives and outcomes. Charlie Munger, an American businessman and right hand to Warren Buffet, said, “Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.” We have a misalignment between national defence and political incentives and outcomes. The current incentive model ensures the status quo of “one size fits all” is maintained. The government incentives (performance pay, promotions, etc.) need to be adjusted to get the outcomes we need (speed of project delivery, cyclical capability development, or optimal use of “off the shelf”). If you got paid more or were promoted because you delivered more capabilities, faster, and on budget, the system would start to self-correct. Only you, as the Prime Minister, can reset the incentives and outcomes to rebuild defence.

Finally, what to do about the Americans when it comes to defence? Like it or not, we need to maintain a strong defence relationship with the U.S. The one thing we cannot change in Canada is our geography, so we need to find a path to continued collaboration. This does not mean we must be the best of friends or that trust will return to previous levels, but we cannot break all ties. There are elements of our bi-lateral relationship that should endure while other parts should be revisited. The latter are the places that will allow us to diversify our relationships and increase our resilience and autonomy.

It was generous of you to invite me to share some thoughts on Canada’s national defence. I cannot think of a higher responsibility for a Prime Minister than defence of the nation and its citizens. We need serious actions from a true leader that puts the defence of the nation above partisan interests. Many of your predecessors have managed to minimize this responsibility which has resulted in our current situation. You have the opportunity to right that wrong. I hope you do.