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Toronto Sun
an hour ago
- Toronto Sun
Pay hike for military members 'long overdue,' says expert
Published Aug 09, 2025 • 2 minute read A Canadian flag patch is shown on a soldier's shoulder in Trenton, Ont., on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014. Photo by Lars Hagberg / THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA — The federal government's decision to boost entry-level pay for Canadian Armed Forces members is being praised by expert observers as long overdue. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account On Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government will hike entry-level pay for Canadian Armed Forces privates by 20 per cent for the regular force and 13 per cent for reservists. The new pay hikes will be retroactive to April 1 this year. Fen Hampson, a professor of international affairs at Carleton University, said the pay increases were a long time in coming, especially at the lower level. He said that if the government is going to be spending a lot more money on defence, boosting pay — particularly at the entry level — is 'a good way to do it.' Given the Canadian Armed Forces' struggles with recruitment and recent reports indicating the military has seen a surge in hateful conduct and racism in the ranks, Hampson said it's wise to 'up the ante' on salaries to encourage more people to sign up. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Hampson said boosting salaries alone won't get the government to the NATO target 'in the context of an economy that is obviously beginning to slow down.' He cited new data shared by Statistics Canada Friday that said Canada shed 41,000 jobs last month. Carney also said that colonels and those in higher positions will receive an eight per cent raise and lieutenant-colonels and those below that rank will receive a 13 per cent raise. The pay hikes are part of a plan to boost recruitment and operational readiness. 'All members of the Canadian Armed Forces will receive a pay raise,' Carney said Friday. 'These increases, in pay and incentives, will help us to revitalize and transform recruitment and retention, to bolster force readiness and to ensure that members in uniform have the confidence and certainty that they need.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Federal bureaucrats told journalists in a technical briefing that the new compensation package is expected to cost around $2 billion annually. It's part of a planned $9.3 billion budget boost this year to get to NATO's defence spending benchmark of two per cent of GDP. The government also said it's creating new military allowances and enhancing existing ones to help it retain personnel and drive up recruitment in a competitive job market. Those allowances include $50,000 in bonuses for people entering and working in what the government calls 'stressed occupations' — critical jobs in sectors that are seeing too many vacancies. The government says staffing levels in 53 of 116 critical occupations, which include vehicle and maritime technicians, are now below 75 per cent. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. David Perry, president and CEO of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said the government has done 'a bunch of smart things' on recruitment. He said it was wise to scale the pay increase because an across-the-board hike would 'probably not really have been a smart use of additional funds.' Defence Minister David McGuinty pitched a 20 per cent pay raise earlier this summer. The measures Carney announced Friday only increase pay for one tranche of members based on rank. Perry said it's also a good idea to woo people into understaffed parts of the military with targeted incentives. 'I think that makes sense,' he said, adding that he thinks the pay hikes will make a 'significant difference' in making entry level positions more attractive. — With files from Kyle Duggan Toronto Blue Jays Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls Editorials Tennis
Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
LILLEY: Softwood lumber tariffs soar as Mark Carney's plan fails to deliver
The Prime minister claimed to be the man with the plan, but that plan is clearly not working Get the latest from Brian Lilley straight to your inbox Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a press conference after a Cabinet meeting to discuss both trade negotiations with the US and the situation in the Middle East, at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on July 30, 2025. Photo by DAVE CHAN / AFP via Getty Images No deal is better than a bad deal – that's the message Prime Minister Mark Carney and his team keep selling to Canadians as their efforts to find a deal with Donald Trump falter. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account That message became harder to sell Friday night as duties on softwood lumber skyrocketed to 35%. It's a major blow to Canada's industry, which a year ago saw duties rise from 8.05% to 14.54% under the Biden administration. The Trump administration had recently bumped those tariffs up further to 20.56% and now, as of Friday night, the total cumulative tariff is 35.19%. B.C.'s Forestry Minister Ravi Parmar called the move 'absurd and reckless,' but in the early hours after the change was made public there was no comment from the Carney government. Since Carney won the election, tariffs on steel and aluminum have gone from 25% to 50%, copper has had a 50% tariff added to it, anything related to automotive deemed not compliant with CUSMA has a 50% tariff, general exports not covered by CUSMA have a 35% tariff and now so too does softwood lumber. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Read More This wasn't what Mark Carney was promising as he campaigned to lead the country. 'I know the President, I've dealt with the President in the past in my previous roles when he was in his first term, and I know how to negotiate,' Carney said during the Liberal leadership race that led to him becoming PM. We've gone from Carney saying he knows Trump and how to negotiate to saying no deal is better than a bad one while the Americans don't return his calls and tariffs continue to rise. Carney has completely changed his tune on the impact of tariffs and Trump's impact on the Canadian economy. During the election campaign he portrayed Trump's tariffs as a existential threat to Canada, that the U.S. President was trying to break us – now, it's no big deal. 'We're in a situation right now where 85% of our trade with the United States is tariff free,' Carney said Friday when asked about the situation. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. That's true to a degree now, but it was also true when Carney was whipping up fear in the population, talking about elbows up and driving a huge anti-American sentiment for political gain. He's only shifted to this latest message when it became clear Canada wasn't getting a deal by the Aug. 1 deadline set by Trump. As I noted in a recent column, we went from the Trump administration – senior officials like Howard Lutnick and Jamieson Greer – calling Canada a top priority for a trade deal in March to where we are today. The Americans have lost interest in talking to Carney's team, and they have described the tactic as not really negotiating, just making demands. Again, that's not what Carney promised. It takes two to tango in any scenario, but when every other G7 country is now covered by a deal and when Mexico has an extension and exemption from further tariffs, maybe it's time to ask if we are the problem and change tactics. Whatever Carney and his team have been doing clearly has not been working. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Carney hasn't spoken to Trump since June 26; that was the day our PM told the Americans we were going ahead with the Digital Services Tax. The next day, Trump broke off all talks with Canada and two days later Carney announced he was cancelling the DST. Since then, we've had several tariff increases and a jobs report showing 51,000 full-time jobs lost last month. One of the slogans Carney liked to use during the election was that a plan beats no plan. I'd love to hear what he says about what to do when a plan clearly isn't working. blilley@ Toronto Blue Jays Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls Editorials Tennis
Globe and Mail
3 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
RCMP union advocates for ease of foreign applicant requirements to help force attract talent
The union representing front-line RCMP members wants the force to ease requirements for foreign applicants to help attract experienced police officers from agencies like the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and counterparts in the United Kingdom and Australia. The RCMP currently requires that applicants be Canadian citizens or have permanent resident status in Canada. Applicants with permanent resident status must have lived in Canada as a permanent resident for three of the last five years. The National Police Federation says the RCMP should follow the lead of the Canadian Armed Forces, which in 2022 opened applications to permanent residents without any requirement on time spent in Canada. Federation president Brian Sauvé said he's 'pretty sure we can attract some good talent' through a similar move by the RCMP. Sauvé compares the idea to federal immigration programs that seek to entice skilled workers to come to Canada. 'If this government has identified public safety, border security and all that stuff as an imperative, we can do the same thing, right?' Sauvé said in a recent interview. 'We have equivalency training. You can come from Manchester, you can come from New South Wales, you can come from, I don't know, the FBI. And we'll train you to be equivalent, to give you a job and put you in a role.' The proposal is one of several ideas the police federation presented in a June report aimed at improving the RCMP's recruitment practices, funding model, training programs and procurement. The federation says independent reports over the past two decades have offered the federal government clear guidance on how to improve RCMP operations in these areas. 'Yet time and again, these recommendations have been met with inaction or insufficient follow-through,' the June report says. 'As a result, long-standing issues persisted and were allowed to worsen.' Public Safety Canada spokesperson Max Watson said the department is committed to working with the RCMP and others to ensure the force 'is equipped to meet evolving public safety needs.' The federation is calling for a streamlined and modernized RCMP application processing system, more training capacity and an increase in the cadet training allowance to about $1,200 a week from the current $525. The federation says it wants more flexibility for some new recruits, such as people from other law enforcement agencies, to make it easier for them to fit into the RCMP. For instance, the federation notes only serving or recently inactive police officers can apply through the RCMP's three-week experienced police officer program, provided they meet strict criteria. That excludes a large pool of well-trained public safety personnel, including members of the Canada Border Services Agency, provincial sheriffs, conservation officers and other law enforcement agents who may not meet the threshold, the report says. Forcing these candidates to repeat a full 26-week training program at the RCMP training depot 'creates a barrier to recruitment and results in missed opportunities to bring skilled, experienced candidates into the RCMP,' the report adds. It also says the federal procurement process is too slow and unresponsive to the urgent needs of modern policing, and drains valuable government resources. 'Delays in rolling out life-saving equipment, including service pistols, body armour and body-worn cameras, threaten both officer safety and public trust,' the report says. Ottawa to invest $2-billion into armed forces for pay increases, improved benefits During the spring election campaign, the Liberals promised to recruit 1,000 more RCMP personnel to tackle drug and human trafficking, foreign interference, cybercrime and car thefts by organized crime. The Liberals also pledged to create a new RCMP academy in Regina and increase pay for cadet recruits. Watson acknowledged the promise to hire more Mounties and said Public Safety recognizes the importance of cadet pay in broader efforts to support recruitment and retention. The RCMP did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. The police force has been told to trim two per cent of its budget as part of a governmentwide cost-cutting exercise. Sauvé said he is 'cautiously optimistic' the Liberal government will follow through on its commitment to strengthen law enforcement, set out in a May mandate letter. The RCMP provides policing services through contracts with all provinces and territories, except Ontario and Quebec. RCMP policing agreements cover much of rural Canada, all of the North and many towns and municipalities in contract provinces. The police federation acknowledges that some continue to ask whether the RCMP should shed its contract policing role across Canada and become more like the FBI by focusing on federal criminal matters. In March, before Mark Carney became prime minister, the Liberals published a paper outlining a new vision for the RCMP. It suggested the force concentrate on federal policing, reflecting its 'essential mandate and where it is best placed to lead investigations.' The federation flatly rejects the idea. 'The RCMP's integrated pan-Canadian policing model remains one of its greatest strengths, due to its ability to leverage co-ordination, consistency and efficiency across all jurisdictions,' the June report says. It argues that moving away from the current model 'would create deep service gaps, duplication and costly public safety and economic inefficiencies with no evidence of better results.' The federation calls for dedicated funding for federal policing, saying RCMP officers carrying out those duties must no longer be used to backstop vacancies in contract jurisdictions. 'Federal assets should be used solely for federal mandates,' the report says. 'If federal members are redeployed for non-federal purposes, those services must be cost-recovered from contract partners.'
