General Rick Hillier (left), Canada’s chief of defence staff, said in a speech today that the threat of an attack on Canadian soil is greater now than at any time since the end of World War II.
“Canada and Canadians … are at more risk now of direct attack than they have ever been during the Cold War itself. We've got to start treating Canada as an operational theatre,” Hillier said during a speech at the annual meeting of the Conference of Defence Associations here in Ottawa. “The threat now is a ball of snakes that sometimes manifests itself as a smaller portion of a high-intensity battle but also spans the spectrum right through terrorism, organized crime, [and] proliferation of nuclear weapons.”
Hillier just took the job at the top a few weeks ago. His timing was impeccable. Last week, his political masters opened up the piggy bank and, in the 2005 federal budget, committed to boosting annual spending on Canada’s armed forces by $13.8–billion. Spending will be gradually increased over the next five years.
Hillier will use that money to “re-purpose” the Canadian military.
“The status quo is not an option. We had a great start with the budget. We have a defence policy which is being developed and which is close culminating. And we've got a leadership in place to make the Canadian Forces what we need it to be,” Hillier sasid. “We came through a period of three, three-and-a-half years here when this Canadian Forces could have broken.”