Canadian Foreign Policy & Affairs II

[lio45]

Originally Posted by P'tit Renard

With the likely reelection of Trump at this point, hard to see how this situation doesn't seriously test US-Canada relations or lead to serious repercussions for Canada...Trump will likely push for the Northern Wall. Another casualty of Trudeau's misguided TFW/International student policies:



Sharp rise in Indians detained at US border with Canada - with number caught attempting to sneak across already 50% higher than last year
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ocumented.html

Man, if we put all those detained Indians in the same location, that place would soon be overtaking Shanghai at that growth rate!

[casper]

Originally Posted by lio45

Man, if we put all those detained Indians in the same location, that place would soon be overtaking Shanghai at that growth rate!

You realize that is the deal the US has with Mexico. Mexico operates refugee camps on Mexican soil for those from other parts wanting to cross into the US.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by casper

You realize that is the deal the US has with Mexico. Mexico operates refugee camps on Mexican soil for those from other parts wanting to cross into the US.

We call our camps Tim Hortons.

[Dartguard]

Originally Posted by casper

Lets face it foreign OEMs/factories don't have a great track record of building solutions custom tailored to Canadian needs either. The CH-148 and Kingfishers are two examples.

The Foreign OEMS did what we asked and paid for. Both choices were the result of the experts like TrueNorth being overridden because Canadian politicians think they know better and "canadianize" things. That will be an easy quick win for any future government . Go with what our allies have already decided but negotiate hard for parts contracts like the F-35 supply base . Canadian companies have been getting better than average cuts of that program.

[Truenorth00]

I wouldn't blame "foreign OEMs" or even Canadianization. I know those are popular targets in the public discord. But we have just as many issues with Canadian OEMs (ask any navy guy about Irving or army guy about GDLS). And other countries also have processes of indigenisation during procurement to bolster their industries too.

What we lack are good project management practices and discipline in Canada. And extreme politicization that really kills the efficacy and efficiency of our meagre defence dollars. Add in a lack of practice when we don't do these things for 20-30 years. It's no coincidence that we see all these problems in major infrastructure development in Canada, as we do in defence procurement. It's the same disease.

The Cyclone and Kingfisher were projects originated and pushed by two different political parties. And they've both ended up being disasters for the reasons given above. They will be case studies in future staff and MPA/MPP courses.

1) Cyclone. This disaster goes right back to Chretien cancelling the EH-101 which would have seen Canada have an assembly and finishing centre with a purchase of 50 helicopters. They looked for a replacement and then discovered (much like Trudeau with the F-35) that there aren't many three engined helicopters on the market capable of operating in the icing conditions we see in Canada. Incensed that the EH-101 won this contract, the RCAF was pressured to allow aircraft that needed development to meet the Maritime Helicopter requirement (which was also lowered in performance). And then once that was picked, the RCAF kept adding requirements (scope creep) because of changes in technology and performance requirements over all those years. This only made development more difficult. Conservatives got elected and didn't want to cancel a project already underway. They decided to allow scope creep instead.

2) Kingfisher. Other side of the aisle. The Conservatives took a lot of crap for sole sourcing the Globemaster and the J-model Hercs. They needed to throw a bone to industry and fend off attacks from the Opposition about being American arms manufacturer's lackeys. What's the project they decide they can cut corners on? A new SAR aircraft. Project office looks at decades of SAR data and draws up range, speed and payload requirements necessary to ensure full coverage and the same response times in Canadian SAR AOR. Government decides industry is more important and decides that there's no need to meet range, speed and payload simultaneously. Liberals get elected and decide to continue this project because they fear labeled anti-military if they cancel. And of course, to make up for predictable performance shortfalls the RCAF resorts to scope creep by adding requirements, which only creates more problems in development.

So is all of the above the fault of foreign OEMs or our own institutional incompetence?

I'll add that we even do this when we build stuff at home. Ask the navy about the AOPS they aren't all that enthused with, that they got stuck with because the Harper Government needed an excuse to give Irving more work. If we were serious about the Arctic, the way to ensure sovereignty is more infrastructure, ice breakers, surveillance aircraft and submarines. Not a half dozen frigate sized slushbreakers with pea shooters.

[acottawa]

Canada sanctions Russian titanium, promptly gives an exemption to the first company that asks.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rus...nium-1.7184373

Russia doesn’t even produce titanium, it was probably stolen from Ukraine.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Canada sanctions Russian titanium, promptly gives an exemption to the first company that asks.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rus...nium-1.7184373

It's tough. We aren't going to cripple our own industry. Airbus needs to be pushed to get off Russian titanium though. This far in, they are probably resisting because of price, not so much supply chain. Escalating tariffs could push them off.

Originally Posted by acottawa

Russia doesn’t even produce titanium, it was probably stolen from Ukraine.

That's a strange chart. Russia produced something like 15% of the world's titanium in 2020/2021. It could just be that they process ores. But that's still a process not easily moved.

https://www.reuters.com/business/imp...ry-2022-03-01/

Their titanium has a long history. They've built submarines out of titanium. Something the US couldn't do because it doesn't have enough. And during the Cold War, the CIA ran front companies all over the world just to get enough titanium from the USSR for American industry.

[acottawa]

Interesting. I wonder if the ore is actually in Russia or another Soviet Republic.

Statista similarly shows no reserves in Russia.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/...de-by-country/

On the other hand, this presentation from the USGS shows several deposits in Russia.

https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/t/pp1802t.pdf

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Interesting. I wonder if the ore is actually in Russia or another Soviet Republic.

Statista similarly shows no reserves in Russia.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/...de-by-country/

On the other hand, this presentation from the USGS shows several deposits in Russia.

https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/t/pp1802t.pdf

I think it's more that they have processing and forging facilities. And they probably had/have a decent recycling sector. Old colonial mindset of extracting raw materials in the colonies and refining it and using it in the home country.

Either way, we do need to do more to really push them out of these supply chains. And if we (Canada) aren't going to do much on defence, one place we could lead is an industrial displacement strategy.

[acottawa]

Good news for the Vatniks moving to Russia to be free of pride parades. Medvedev via @wartranslated

[casper]

So the story of the Canadian farm family the relocates to Russia to get away from the woke progressive and tolerant values that define Canadian society.

While in a million years I would never consider moving to Russia for "opportunity" and "freedom". Glad to see they have found a welcoming home for their religious and intolerant values outside of Canada.

• Video Link

[Justanothermember]

Originally Posted by casper

So the story of the Canadian farm family the relocates to Russia to get away from the woke progressive and tolerant values that define Canadian society.

While in a million years I would never consider moving to Russia for "opportunity" and "freedom". Glad to see they have found a welcoming home for their religious and intolerant values outside of Canada.

• Video Link

I am no wokester by any means but if Russia is what they consider an 'upgrade' in quality of life....yikes. Those poor children.

I hope they enjoy their 15 fifteen minutes of fame before they inevitably do something that will have their whole family thrown in jail never to be heard from again.

[1overcosc]

If their goal was cheap farmland there are many, many, more options available than Russia.

Canada is actually a really friendly place for people like that (although land prices are often high). We have numerous policies at both federal and provincial level that exempt family farms from a lot of red tape and regulatory rules and those exemptions are even broader for those who have religious reasons involved. (For example, Mennonites are actually exempt from having to get building permits for farm outbuildings). Its one of the reasons why Mennonite, Hutterite, etc. settlements grow so much here.

[acottawa]

It is one thing for Tucker to go to Moscow and tour a bunch of overpriced monuments and say it is nice. It takes some balls to go to shitty decrepit villages and pretend it is nice.


• Video Link

[WarrenC12]

They were brainwashed by certain pro-Russian media. Simple as that. Zero critical thinking skills.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Yes, one must be careful from where they consume their propaganda and conspiracy theories…

[whatnext]

Just a reminder this hasn't gone away:

CSIS director says China’s concerted effort to steal Canadian technology is ‘mind-boggling’
ROBERT FIFE OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF
STEVEN CHASE SENIOR PARLIAMENTARY REPORTER
OTTAWA
PUBLISHED YESTERDAY
UPDATED 1 HOUR AGO
FOR SUBSCRIBERS

Canada’s top spy says China’s concerted efforts to steal cutting-edge Canadian technology is mind-boggling, and is designed to build the People’s Liberation Army as a formidable force against Western interests.

David Vigneault, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, told MPs on the Canada-China committee Monday that Chinese hacking and other espionage activities have become a serious threat since Xi Jinping became president in 2012.

Canada and other wealthy Western countries have been targeted by People’s Republic of China actors to obtain high-end technology, he said.

“The statistics is mind-boggling in terms of the amount of attempts against government institutions every day. But more and more we see that those entities like PRC hacking groups are not just going after government institutions but are going after the private sector and academia to be able to acquire information and data that they need to pursue their objective,” Mr. Vigneault said.

The Canada-China committee is investigating the weak security measures at National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg that enabled Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, to pass on confidential scientific information to China and allowed military scientists and students from China into the Level 4 lab....

....Mr. Vigneault would not comment on why the two scientists were allowed to flee to China after they were fired. Nor would he talk about what possible secrets the couple may have provided to China...

The Globe and Mail revealed in March that the pair fired are now working in China and that Dr. Qiu is collaborating with researchers from the People’s Liberation Army. The couple are using the pseudonyms Sandra Chiu and Kaiting Cheng, conducting research at prestigious institutions in China and alongside some of that country’s most noted scientists....

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/poli...teal-canadian/

[someone123]

It seems a bit like a one-sided cold war where China's been doing this for a long time while Canada doesn't take it seriously.

Is there any parallel in human history for what's happened in China with their economy leap-frogging forward because of Western resources and IP theft while their government has remained largely antagonistic? There are other fast-growing Asian economies with good trade relationships with Western countries but they're friendly toward the West. Conversely other bad actors like Russia or Iran are pariahs.

[urbandreamer]

The Dutch "Canadian" couple who flipped their Manitoulin Island homestead, had previously sold a large dairy farm for $$$, and moved to Russia are smart business owners influenced by their countrymen, who've been buying Eastern European farmland by the millions of acres every year since 1992. I suspect they think Canadian real estate prices will correct further, so in 5 years they'll be back in Canada.

9% interest rates are coming by 2030.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Paul Wells interviews Jonathan Manthorpe.

https://substack.com/home/post/p-144190730?source=queue