Voyageur 41
News for residents of the “11th province”: Canadians abroad.
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Canada Plans to Build Its Own Military Gear and Stop Buying American
Ottawa is releasing a $6.6-billion defence-industrial strategy this week that amounts to a declaration of self-sufficiency. The plan is to shift 70 per cent of defence procurement to Canadian companies, up from roughly half today, and create 125,000 jobs over a decade.
The strategy calls it a response to a world where "imperial conquest" might return and "old alliances" are under pressure. Translation: Canada doesn't want to depend on the U.S. for the equipment it would need to defend itself from, well, the U.S. The document names the EU, UK, Australia, Japan and South Korea as preferred partners going forward.
The government wants to build domestic supply chains in aerospace, drones, ammunition and sensors, and plans to increase defence exports by 50 per cent. It also promises to partner with "Canadian champions" who deliver on time and on budget - though it doesn't explain how it plans to enforce that, which anyone familiar with Canadian procurement history (Voyageur 31) will find familiar.
Read more: Global News
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Ottawa Now Has the Worst Job Market in Canada
The national capital lost roughly 32,000 jobs over the past year - a 3.5 per cent drop - making it the weakest job market in the country. Worse than steel towns. Worse than auto cities hit by tariffs.
The federal government started sending layoff notices last fall as part of a plan to cut 40,000 positions from its 2024 peak over five years. But those cuts have barely started. The early damage is coming from contractors and NGOs that rely on federal money pulling back, and from a confidence shock rippling through the city. One staffing agency said it's getting more resumes from federal workers, though most are still waiting to find out if they'll be let go.
For the Ontario side of Ottawa, it's the deepest employment slump outside the pandemic since records began in 2011 - deeper even than the Harper-era cuts of 2013. Private-sector hiring has picked up some of the slack, but economists say the worst is still ahead.
Read more: The Globe and Mail