THE CONSERVATIVE HIPSTERS

HMCS Chicoutimi

I am absolutely disgusted right now. But I'm not quite sure who or what I should be more angry with. Most importantly--its an absolute tragedy that a young man like Lt. Chris Saunders was killed. He was doing his job serving his country and for that he is a hero.

Canadians need to wake up.

Firstly, why was this (used, British) sub encountering such problems on its maden voyage? It was barely in the water and it had a major fire? Here's what The Guardian in the U.K. had to say about our newest acquisition:

"The handover of Chicoutimi - the oldest of the four - was delayed because it was rusty and because it had been 'cannibalised' to get the first three submarines seaworthy"

So, who is responsible? The Canadian people should be demanding answers. The Royal Navy is moving quickly to absolve themselves of any responsibility. They are already pointing fingers at Scottish shipyards that worked on the HMCS Chicoutimi.

But this brings me to my second point. Why were we leasing used submarines in the first place?

Because military spending in this country is a joke.

We spend only 1.1% of GDP on our military. That's less than France and Australia. Its less than Denmark, for god sakes! Yet, we are repeatedly looked upon to take on new peacekeeping missions--a source so many Canadians claim is such a great source of pride. Yet what do I see on the "streeter" interviews asking their opinion on the subject? They cliam that maybe this is proof that military spending isn't and shouldn't be a priority for the government.

It's called a committment-credibility gap, folks.

Or better yet, lets call it "not pulling our weight".

You don't think our national standing on the world isn't tied to the strength or capability of our armed forces in global bodies like NATO or the UN? You bet your ass it is.

But the point isn't about those organizations. Its about the fact that our troops are underequipped, underfunded and understaffed. And they are literally dying because of it. I hope Paul Martin does go visit the troops on the HMCS Chicoutimi. he can look them in the eye and explain to them that it was his budgets that cut military spending. It was his Throne Speech that ignored their needs.

This situation could have been avoided if the goverment took a portion of the money it wasted on AdScam and put it into the military.

This is a national discrace.