OTTAWA — Canada’s former top soldier says there was often a lack of urgency at the political level in former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s government to prioritize military readiness. And, he says, he was asked by senior government officials at the time to tone down his advocacy on the topic. “I had to be careful as well because part of the military virtue of loyalty is loyalty to the government in power,” said retired general Wayne Eyre in an interview on CTV Power Play with Vassy Kapelos. “Along with loyalty to the institution and loyalty to the members of the institution, and loyalty to the country, and so navigating that minefield, if you will, there’s no set template for it.” Asked whether he felt conflicted by that, Eyre said: “Oh, all the time.” “And how much do I push publicly? How much do I push behind closed doors? How much do I salute and drive on, and there was no clear answer for it,” he added. New sense of urgency Eyre served as Canada’s chief of the defence staff from 2021-2024. His 432-page memoir, Into the Breach: A Soldier’s Journey, comes out in early October, delving into not just his time as top soldier, but his four decades in the military. Speaking to Kapelos, Eyre said government inaction on the question of military readiness goes back decades. As an example, he pointed to “the years in Afghanistan where we had to knit together units because we didn’t have enough in terms of people and equipment.” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, however, added a new sense of urgency. “Trying to get support for that in a timely fashion was a challenge,” he said. “With that being said ... at the end of the day, we live in a democracy, and the military is subservient to elected civilian officials,” he added. “And a pillar of military professionalism is following orders.” Eyre said there was a “stark realization” once Canada began providing aid to Ukraine that it was doing so from “pretty empty” shelves. “And the ability to regenerate those capabilities, whether they be artillery pieces or ammunition or rockets, you name it, there was not the industrial capacity to be able to do that,” Eyre said. “It was a real moment of ‘wow, we need to move on to a war footing to rapidly arm not just ourselves but those who are standing up for freedom around the world.’” In his memoir, Eyre writes in part that the thought of resigning the position crossed his mind on many occasions, both out of self-doubt early in his tenure, or later out of frustration at government inaction. Disagreements with Trudeau, Freeland He also delves into some disagreements with the government at the time. For example, he references an occasion in the book in which former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland threw him “under the bus” publicly, and that Trudeau, forced to choose between his deputy and Eyre, did the same. But, speaking to Kapelos, Eyre stressed that his thoughts of resigning were just a small piece of his story. Asked whether he has any advice for the new government under Prime Minister Mark Carney, when it comes to military spending and overall readiness, Eyre said measures need to be implemented “with a sense of urgency.” “To continue to advocate with Canadians as to why this is so necessary,” Eyre also said. “The strategic vulnerability for the current defence investment intention is the loss of social licence from Canadians once the berating from south of the border disappears, yet the very real threats to our country remain.” With files from CTV News’ Brennan MacDonald
