by Ken Pole
Still waiting for that 20 percent pay hike promised during the spring election campaign that gave Prime Minister Mark Carney a minority government?
Defence Minister David McGuinty, six weeks into his new cabinet role, has confirmed that “we’re moving forward” but that it might take more time than many had anticipated even as the government remains committed to protecting Ukraine and NATO allies on Europe’s eastern front.
Winding up a visit to Latvia after the latest North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit and meetings with European Union leaders, McGuiny talked with reporters June 26 from the Canadian embassy in Riga after visiting the Canadian-led Multinational Brigade Latvia (MNBG-LVA).
“We were very clear in our election platform,” McGuinty said when it was suggested that there are concerns in the ranks of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) that the government might renege on the promise even as it struggles with recruitment and retention challenges.
Deputy Defence Minister Stephanie Beck, a former career diplomat until her move to the Department of National Defence a year ago, and the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Jennie Carignan, have been tasked with “systematically” overseeing a CAF-wide review of pay and benefits.
“The overall package is moving forward,” McGuinty said. “It’s being designed, and we’ll have more to say about it in due course.”
As for the Army-centric MNBG-LVA—a key element of Op Reassurance, itself part of the largest NATO collective defence presence in a generation—the minister spent a good part of his day at Camp Ādaži meeting “hundreds” of the Canadians on the deployment and watching a change-of-command ceremony.
“I must say, I’m struck by the incredible professionalism of our Canadian forces (and) the sophistication of the operation,” McGinty said. “Canada has a very, very strong leadership role to play in situations like this, where it is a multinational approach to this kind of crisis. Certainly, being called upon to continue, Canada remains committed … to the Ukrainian situation.”
