Soldiers from N.B. serving near Russia return home to increased defence spending

CBC

a day ago

Another six-month rotation of Canadian soldiers in Latvia is coming to an end, and two soldiers from New Brunswick will be among the troops coming home to the news that Canada is increasing and accelerating investments in defence.
Lt.-Col. Jacques Pinard and Chief Warrant Officer Jean Sebastien Morin have both been serving among the 2,000 Canadian troops stationed in Latvia, where they're defending the eastern flank of NATO.
Based at Camp Adazi, about an hour's drive from the Russian border, they're tasked with protecting a population that lives in a state of vigilance.
"There are cameras on every corner," Pinard said. "You can't go anywhere in Latvia without being recorded. And it's accepted by the Latvian public that this is just a thing that's there to provide safety for everyone."
The war between Ukraine and Russia is never far from their thoughts, he said.
"For instance, drones that are flying around, those are taken very seriously if they haven't been approved prior to having them up in the air, so that is very tightly controlled," Pinard said.
On Monday, Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged an extra $9 billion this fiscal year to strengthen existing and emerging military capabilities.
That includes money to accelerate recruitment. The goal is to bring the Canadian Armed Forces to 71,500 regular and 30,000 primary reserve members by 2030. That's an increase of 13,000 members.
Military personnel will also get pay raises.
Some new hires may find themselves in Latvia, where Canada's commitment has no end date.
The first 100 Canadian soldiers arrived there in 2017, and now Canada leads an international brigade, supported by 14 countries, including NATO's newest member, Sweden.
Less than a year after joining NATO, Sweden sent hundreds of troops to join the battle group in February.
Soldiers focused on improving health care
Providing health care on site is part of Canada's growing responsibility in Latvia.
A multidisciplinary health-care team that includes doctors, nurses, a dental team, social workers, physiotherapists and a pharmacy, is expected to expand.
"We're definitely looking after a much larger group of individuals from different nations," Morin said in his role as the regimental sergeant major for the multinational medical units.
He said Canada is also working to increase its ability to provide medical care to soldiers in the field.
"The medical capacity we're trying to build is, well, I would put it as bringing health care as far forward as possible in the battle space," he said.
"We will definitely bring everything to where it needs to be and strategically placed so we can ensure the personnel who are injured have the best chance of survival."
The Canadians have been leading various military practice exercises, including a simulated response to mass casualty events.
New investment good for morale
Canada's new spending is sure to benefit all Canadian military bases and boost troop morale, said Christian Leuprecht, a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada.
"The prime minister's announcement specifically mentions armoured vehicle and artillery pieces, both of which the Canadian Armed Forces are desperately short on, and are in high demand at [CFB] Gagetown," Leuprecht said from Riga, Latvia, where he's attending a NATO conference on strategic communications.
Meanwhile, as long as conflict prevails in Ukraine, Leuprecht said, it's less likely that Russia will have the capacity to focus its aggression elsewhere. That could change quickly, however, if the fighting stops, he said.
"If [Putin] sets his sights on a country, chances are it's going to be one of the three smallest countries in the alliance, that being Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania," Leuprecht said.
"And Latvia is the country that has the largest Russian-speaking minority and the direct border. So it has always been a very high risk place."
It will take several flights over the next few weeks to repatriate Canadian soldiers who are winding up their deployment.
Pinard said he'll be returning to New Brunswick to pick up his family and move them to Edmonton. Morin said he hopes to visit family in northern New Brunswick.
Neither could be reached for comment on the new spending announcement.
A media relations officer at the Department of National Defence was unable to say how the pledge to bring defence spending up to the NATO target of two per cent of Canada's gross domestic product will impact the mission in Latvia, called Operation Reassurance.