Canada can no longer be ‘naive’ about the ‘real’ threats it faces: defence chief

Canada must not let up on growing its military and confronting the reality that the threats posed by a challenging and complex global environment have arrived on its doorstep, the outgoing chief of the defence staff says.

Gen. Wayne Eyre said he’s “cautiously optimistic” that the Canadian Armed Forces is on the “upswing,” with new commitments to defence spending, slow improvements to recruitment, and a recognition of security as a top priority for both the government and Canadians.

But that growth is still “not fast enough,” he told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block — likely one of his last in the top military post before he plans to retire this summer.

“There still remains lots of work to do,” he said.

Listing off the threats that Canada and its allies face — foreign interference, climate change that has opened the Arctic to security vulnerabilities, violent extremists at home and abroad, technological advancements in warfare, and the rise of hostile global powers like Russia and China — Eyre said Canadians can no longer be “naive” about national security.

“We’ve been relatively isolated here, thankfully, in this country — (we’re) protected by three oceans and a superpower to the south,” he said.

“Well, security is becoming global. We live in a globally-integrated threat environment, and we need to be prepared for it.”

Eyre said the military itself also needs to be on guard against foreign interference, including attempts by hostile states to recruit current and former CAF members and get sensitive information from them.

Canada and its Five Eyes intelligence allies warned earlier this month that China is “aggressively” pursuing efforts to recruit western military members to train its