Ottawa, ON – Today, James Bezan, Conservative candidate for Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman, issued the following statement in response to Mark Carney’s defence policy announcement:
Today’s announcement by Mark Carney is just a re-announcement of more broken Liberal promises that provides no details, answers no questions, and makes Canadians no safer than they have been under the lost Liberal decade.
The Liberals already announced in July 2024 that they had begun a process to acquire up to 12 submarines, but today Carney wouldn’t commit to a number. They’ve announced more heavy icebreakers, but cannot announce a number, a cost, or who will build them. They say they will give the Canadian Armed Forces a raise, but they’ve been in charge for the lost Liberal decade as military morale and recruitment plummeted. They promised new housing, but they have failed to meet every housing target they have set and just last week had to admit that they were lying to Canadians about having a plan.
Mark Carney’s defence for not providing any details? That it was commercially sensitive information. But that is a lie. In the 2021 and 2019 Conservative election platforms, there were details on specific numbers of ships that would be procured. In July 2024, Bill Blair, Mark Carney’s Defence Minister, put out a statement detailing a plan to procure up to 12 submarines. The Liberals committed to buying 88 fighter jets, far before the procurement concluded. And in April, the Liberal Government issued a defence policy review with a great deal of specific numbers for procurement.
This is not change. This is more of the same promises with no plan and no action that Canadians have watched Liberals make and break throughout the lost Liberal decade.
Under the Carney Liberals, our warships are rusting out, our fighter jets are worn out, our army has been hollowed out and entire air squadrons are being shut down because they don’t have enough personnel. Our current submarines are barely in the water. Only 58% of our forces stand ready to deploy and we are short almost 14,500 troops this year with a further 10,000 troops who are undertrained and undeployable.
In contrast, Pierre Poilievre has already announced part one of his plan to take back control of Canada’s North by doubling the number of Rangers, building the first new permanent base since the Cold War by establishing CFB Iqaluit, and acquiring two additional polar icebreakers for the Royal Canadian Navy. Poilievre also committed to delivering the two polar icebreakers the Seaspan and Davie shipyards are now building for the Coast Guard by 2029. That is a detailed, specific plan with more to come as our platform is unveiled.
The question for Canadians is this: After the Lost Liberal Decade—with costs up and crime up, our economy down and under America’s thumb, with a more dangerous world in which the government has failed to keep Canadians safe—do Liberals deserve a fourth term or is it time to put Canada First for a change with a new Conservative government that will support our military, protect Canadians, axe taxes, build homes, stop crime, unleash resources and bring home jobs so that we can stand up to Trump from a position of strength?
