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Less money, more pressure to respond to climate change emergencies. The government's long term plan for DND is coming together nicely, it seems 
Defence Minister Bill Blair affirmed Thursday that weather-related disasters will be a large part of the renewed vision set to be laid out for the Canadian Armed Forces in a promised defence policy update.
At the same time, the country’s defence chief says the military needs to be the “force of last resort” and called for more response resources to be handled municipally and provincially.
Blair was asked by NDP MP Lindsay Mathyssen, “Can you confirm that whenever we do see the defence update, whenever that may be, will a large part of that deal with the existential crisis that we are seeing in terms of climate change?”
“I can confirm that,” Blair said. “I think we’ve all learned a great deal from our experiences in the last three years. The last year being the most intense, extraordinary and unprecedented — I get tired of using that word unprecedented, but there’s no comparison.”
Mathyssen had pointed out the last update in 2017 did not include any measures on how the military responds to climate change beyond mentions of it being an issue.
Blair said that this year saw the longest continuous deployment of military resources assisting in natural disaster response, with 130 consecutive days spent assisting with wildfires that gripped the country.
Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre stressed that calling on military assistance in dealing with climate-related disasters should be a measure of last resort, but it is becoming increasingly common.
“The demand is going up. We’ve seen a doubling every five years over the last decade and a half for assistance for response to natural disasters,” Eyre told the committee.
“What is missing is capacity. I believe the Canadian Armed Forces will continue to be called upon, but what we truly need to be is that force of last resort. What we need is that intermediate capacity at the municipal and provincial levels to be drawn upon first.”
globalnews.ca
Climate disasters will be part of defence update as strains grow, minister says
Defence Minister Bill Blair affirmed Thursday that weather-related disasters will be a large part of the renewed vision set to be laid out for the Canadian Armed Forces in a promised defence policy update.
At the same time, the country’s defence chief says the military needs to be the “force of last resort” and called for more response resources to be handled municipally and provincially.
Blair was asked by NDP MP Lindsay Mathyssen, “Can you confirm that whenever we do see the defence update, whenever that may be, will a large part of that deal with the existential crisis that we are seeing in terms of climate change?”
“I can confirm that,” Blair said. “I think we’ve all learned a great deal from our experiences in the last three years. The last year being the most intense, extraordinary and unprecedented — I get tired of using that word unprecedented, but there’s no comparison.”
Mathyssen had pointed out the last update in 2017 did not include any measures on how the military responds to climate change beyond mentions of it being an issue.
Blair said that this year saw the longest continuous deployment of military resources assisting in natural disaster response, with 130 consecutive days spent assisting with wildfires that gripped the country.
Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre stressed that calling on military assistance in dealing with climate-related disasters should be a measure of last resort, but it is becoming increasingly common.
“The demand is going up. We’ve seen a doubling every five years over the last decade and a half for assistance for response to natural disasters,” Eyre told the committee.
“What is missing is capacity. I believe the Canadian Armed Forces will continue to be called upon, but what we truly need to be is that force of last resort. What we need is that intermediate capacity at the municipal and provincial levels to be drawn upon first.”
Climate disasters will be part of defence update as strains grow, minister says - National | Globalnews.ca
Defence Minister Bill Blair's comment comes as the defence chief says the military must be a 'force of last resort' due to strained resources.
globalnews.ca
