The West Block – Episode 26, Season 13 – National

THE WEST BLOCK
Episode 26, Season 13
Sunday, March 10, 2024

Host: Mercedes Stephenson

Guests:
Andris Sprūds, Latvian Defence Minister
Retired Gen. Thomas Lawson, Former Chief of the Defence Staff

Location:
Ottawa Studio

Mercedes Stephenson: On this week’s show: how the Canadian Armed Forces are helping stave off potential Russian aggression, and what our military needs to help itself.

I’m Mercedes Stephenson, and The West Block starts now.

Canada’s largest international deployment is in Latvia, a key location in a region vulnerable to Russian aggression.

We talk with the Latvian defence minister about new attempts to strengthen its border with Russia. And as we prepare to send even more troops to Latvia, a dire warning about the state of our military from Canada’s defence minister himself.

Bill Blair, Defence Minister: “More people have left than have entered. That is, frankly, it’s a death spiral for the Canadian Armed Forces.”

President Joe Biden: “We’ve made NATO stronger than ever. We welcomed Finland to the Alliance last year. [Applause] And just this morning, Sweden officially joined. Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to NATO, the strongest military alliance the world has ever seen.”

Mercedes Stephenson: That was President Biden at the State of the Union.

With NATO’s borders now expanding, do alliance countries like Latvia, who share a border with Russia, feel reassured.

Canadian troops are on the ground in the small Baltic country. In fact, it is Canada’s largest military deployment of about a thousand soldiers and it’s growing. It’s also a long term commitment for Canada, much like Germany was during the Cold War.

When the Liberal government is grilled over NATO spending, they often point to the troops in Latvia as an example of Canada’s NATO contributions.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: “We are renewing and expanding our contributions to Operation Reassurance. This includes increased financial and troops commitments that will scale up the Canadian led NATO battle group to a brigade by 2026.”

Mercedes Stephenson: Is it enough to deter Russia, and do Canadian troops cancel out the need to spend more on NATO? With more on this, I’m joined by Latvia Defence Minister Andris Sprūds.

Minister Sprūds, thank you so much for taking time during your visit to Canada, and welcome.

Andris…