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April 10,2026
Neil E.
Thomson
825
Alview Crescent
Kamloops
BC
V2B 6C5
President
of the King's Privy Council for Canada
Honourable
Dominic LeBlanc
Privy
Council Office
85
Sparks Street, Room 1000
Ottawa,
Ontario K1A 0A3
EMAIL - dominic.leblanc@parl.gc.ca
RE: Government behaviour as it relates to
National Defence
I have been watching world events and Canada’s role in them with grave concern. Once again, as fissures in the world order create a more perilous environment for Canada, I have watched our response to the elevated threat level and found it anemic at best. Furthermore, the manner in which we are approaching the expansion of the military and the acquisition of military assets is excessively bureaucratic and sluggish.
Past Posts on the Subject
Our relationship with the United States in the realm of defence must be treated with the importance it deserves. Our association with them in this area is more vital than our relationship with any other country in the world. Finally, our level of preparedness for a catastrophic war event needs to be brought to a robust state. While one appreciates that the present government is promising to increase defence spending, one is eager to see those resources directed effectively.
There is an urgency dictated by the most recent geopolitical realities—an urgency that appears to be going unaddressed. As a citizen, I have seen no meaningful immediate response to the elevated threat level. By way of example, I have seen no major recruitment drive for a domestic defence force. It is critical that we move quickly.
I have reviewed the published data related to Canadian military procurement, and much of it appears outmoded. While it is favourable to diversify our procurement sources—engaging with Sweden, for example, is a positive step—there remains an overemphasis on crewed (personed) war machines. Given Canada’s relatively small population and vast territory, uncrewed equipment should be far more prominent. There seems to be a blind spot regarding the clear lessons from the war in Ukraine. One of the most prominent features of the Ukrainian experience has been the entrepreneurial and innovative nature of their weapon development.
It is my belief that President Eisenhower’s warnings regarding the military-industrial complex were warranted, and caution should be exercised to avoid feeding that beast. We should enlist the expertise of our educational institutions to reverse-engineer the developments in automated warfare and facilitate the rapid development of prototypes along with the necessary automated manufacturing infrastructure. We should be deploying hundreds of unmanned submarines for coastal surveillance rather than purchasing a single crewed submarine.
The stabilizing effect of the NATO alliance has been a massive success. While one can point fingers at the behaviour of certain member nations, that behaviour remains errant nonetheless. In the current period of geopolitical instability, and with the specter of competing large powers sensing an opportunity for a major strategic initiative, the last thing we should add to their calculations is disunity within NATO’s ranks. The United States is the key actor in the NATO alliance and should be treated with loyalty and respect.
By way of example, Spain’s refusal to allow the United States to use its military facilities was a grave affront. Spain’s leadership appears to have forgotten the blood spilled on their soil by Allied forces in the Second World War. Nations engaging in such behaviour should be firmly reprimanded. Actions like Spain’s will only embolden the enemies of freedom.
The Swiss and Finnish models for civil defence are exemplary and should serve as the end goal for Canada’s national defence development. They have invested in these systems for generations; we need to catch up quickly. The only realistic way to achieve this is through the mobilization of voluntary citizen involvement. Furthermore, the government must empower the citizenry by providing clear information that promotes self-reliance.
Our present circumstances are at least as perilous as those of the Cuban Missile Crisis, yet there has been no communication on how citizens should prepare for a worst-case scenario. We owe it to Canadians to teach them how to prepare for themselves—especially since Finland and Switzerland have developed comprehensive infrastructure, including extensive underground facilities.
A detailed discussion on the rapid development of a voluntary citizen defence and disaster response system is beyond the scope of this letter. However, one thing we must avoid is disempowering the very people we will most need in the event we have to defend our country. The time, energy, and resources currently being devoted to the recent bout of gun control measures represent a travesty in themselves. There are 2.4 million registered gun owners in Canada, yet on average only 12 per year are accused of a crime. There is no justification for wasting these resources on such measures, especially when a growing consensus in other levels of government opposes them. Rather than alienating people with the very skills we need in a civil defence scenario, we should be training and empowering them to participate. The approximately 65,000 AR-15 owners are precisely the demographic who would answer the call and possess the skills to be effective. I have lobbied the government aggressively on this issue for years, yet I have been unable to convey the absolute folly of this legislation.
Suggestions on the Way Forward for the Canadian Military
Detailed discourse on firearms legislation
The way we have been responding to these large challenges is inadequate. We need to aggressively configure a response that is commensurate with the urgency of our circumstances. We must empower the citizenry both to care for themselves and to work in harmony with each other and with government entities to face whatever challenges may come. Above all, we need to activate domestic talent to develop an advanced weapons development pipeline.
Kind
regards,
Neil E.
Thomson
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