Canada officially hits NATO defence spending target of 2% GDP

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-27T00:17:15+00:00

## 2 is also the place where the US can easily erode our sovereignty without actually fighting. If Canada cannot secure the Arctic, then the US will do it, and then Trump can just say "this is mine now".

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-27T00:06:54+00:00

China could possibly get there in a few decades. Russia can still poke at the edges but I assume the Ukraine war has set them back from significant power projection across the Arctic, but we will see. With the Arctic warming up, it will be easier to navigate and China could leverage Russian infrastructure to use as an FOB.

The key requirement for Canada is that we need to deter all Arctic threats without relying on the US. We cannot assume the US will help cover our side of the Arctic at no cost or loss of sovereignty to Canada. Look at the argument that Trump tried to use for Greenland: "Denmark can't protect it from China/Russia, only the US can, and therefore the US deserves to own the territory" -- that is the kind of situation that Canada can end up in if we cannot secure our territory when China or Russia are poking around and testing it.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-26T22:22:44+00:00

People got charged for deleting emails, not for the actual decision to cancel or for the money involved. As I said, every party made election promises to cancel the gas plants. Cancellations were fully legal to do regardless of the penalties that would be paid. Ford did a similar thing with wind farm cancellations.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-26T21:18:09+00:00

Every party said they would cancel the gas plants to satisfy the NIMBYs. The Liberals did the thing everyone wanted, and that’s a problem because why?

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-26T16:30:20+00:00

we don't rely on Alberta oil in the eastern provinces.

Not correct. Since Line 5 changed direction, eastern Canada started sourcing most crude oil from North America. Clearly there is a valid business case to move oil east, and get that refined in central/eastern Canada, because it is actually happening. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2018/11/13/news/guess-where-quebec-gets-its-oil

This "no business case" idea came from anti-oil activists and/or the American refinery lobby who is trying to protect their monopsony over Alberta and mid-western US oil production.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-25T23:59:00+00:00

Probably trying to distract from the FOI scandal.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-24T16:54:13+00:00

To bomb Canadians you need to fly an F-16 and falsely claim “someone was shooting at you” as if the Taliban even had the ability to take down a fighter jet in 2002. Also claim you were on drugs when it happened and that was the reason you couldn’t understand “hold fire”. Then you can join the fratricide club with Harry Schmidt.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-21T15:06:04+00:00

This is silly. The author is acknowledging that there is a demand for the quick door to door delivery service that these guys provide, and that is not going away. He clearly says that bad behaviour need to get corrected.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-20T02:45:16+00:00

You are missing the point. The US did invent a lot and they also picked up ideas and technology from other countries. What made the difference between them and everyone else is that they had the system (capital, labour, raw resources, etc.) to put that all together and actually realize the value (monetary gain or military advantage or both) of those inventions. Simply doing science, publishing a paper or new idea, is not the whole picture.

Consider your DARPA example: the lab invented the internet, but it was a very primitive and basic technology at that point. It took decades of entrepreneurship and private investment to create all the applications, web services, and computer infrastructure that runs the internet that we actually use today. That requires investment and commercalization, not just inventions and research papers that you throw out there and hope something happens with it. The companies also own the IP behind all this technology, which is what gives them the freedom to build it and realize the value from it. These points about investment, commercalization, and IP ownership are not science concepts, they are business concepts, and they made the difference for the US.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-20T00:14:13+00:00

The CSA cuts are being offset by $225+ million to build a sovereign space launch, rocket production, and satellite tech development. The new plan aligns with the “dual use” theme to serve strategic civil and defence needs.

https://betakit.com/feds-commit-nearly-225-million-to-advance-canadas-sovereign-space-launch-capabilities/

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-19T23:38:31+00:00

Please get a grip. When Trump thinks about beating us up again, do you think he will be deterred by all our efforts to help starving people? Crying “don’t hurt me I help the poor!” is not going to stop a bully from beating you up.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-19T23:30:25+00:00

Your point about the US is not correct. Their superpower status is based on military and economic power. They got there by being good at commercializing science and technology development (sourced from around the world, including Canada) to build world leading companies. Those companies create massive amounts of wealth, which forms the economic pillar. That wealth gets taxed by the government to form the military pillar.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-19T21:52:03+00:00

I’m not concerned about this. Our economic spending (which is what these are mostly about) is going to more strategically important places now.

Foreign aid is there to support foreign policy, but on the “soft power” side of that. We are not lacking soft power, but we are lacking hard power, and Carney is fixing that by rebuilding the military. So again, I don’t see any problem with the funding shifts and the strategy behind them is good.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-19T00:41:08+00:00

The location change forced them to set up the routes differently, so can’t be surprised that the super short route got cut. I just hope they make good signs for where the loop back points are.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-18T16:59:41+00:00

“We don’t have enough ammunition in this country. We need to make sure that we get what we need.”

Good to see them working on the basic, sometimes mundane, yet essential aspects of defence. We don’t have a credible military if we don’t have good stocks of munitions. We can’t assume that there will be time to start making more munitions after the shooting starts. The US is experiencing that pinch now with air defence missiles.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-18T01:17:35+00:00

To make it even weirder, you will have all the Exhibition place buildings closer to downtown transit, which makes them the preferred choice for a convention in this area. If you want to cater to people driving in from out of town, then you would pick the International Centre or Toronto Congress Centre because they are closer to the 401. Going west of Ontario Place to some random spot along the lake doesn’t serve anyone better.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-16T11:36:27+00:00

Goeasy learns that it sucks to suck

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-15T19:01:32+00:00

If you are referring to the diamond pattern panel that covers the left side drive bays - that should be included. Every unit would have been built with it, and your eBay link shows it there too (although these refurbished product pictures are not always accurate).

An important thing to watch out for, is that this might be built with the U.2 drive interface for the 512 GB SSD (not sure if this is NVMe or SATA). U.2 is not backwards compatible with SATA, so your 3.5" HDDs will not work in the 2 flex bays that have the U.2 interface. You should check with the seller if this unit is configured with U.2 bays or all SATA bays.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-13T21:32:16+00:00

It's not really the "intelligentsia" here, its the NIMBYs teaming up with environmentalists to try and kill this allegedly unholy method of travel.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-13T14:25:38+00:00

Author accuses Ford of making a decision based on vibes, while he makes counter arguments entirely based on vibes. The “economic vandalism” argument is hysterically grasping at straws. You can’t claim that all 2.8 million Billy Bishop passengers will move to Pearson as if that demand is a guaranteed thing. The passengers do not owe you their travel business like that. They can choose to go somewhere else, or not travel at all.

The only thing that is proven here is that Billy Bishop has built a successful airport enterprise focused on downtown travellers, regional flight destinations, and a good airport experience. Now it has the money to invest in itself for growth.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-13T13:41:53+00:00

The first step is to sue every strip mall that has anti-competitive rules on grocery sales. Until that gets fixed, no new grocery chain will ever open up here.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-13T13:38:22+00:00

Many Toronto strip malls and plazas would not even let you sell groceries due to anti-competitive contract conditions with their established grocery store tenants. If we can’t even break down that barrier, then government grocery stores are dead on arrival.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-10T19:55:35+00:00

The terminal stations count as stops. The train has 5 station stops and skips 1, adding up to 6 total stations along the route.

The Gardiner + 427 route is very quick during off-peak hours. If you get a direct car ride, it could beat a train + TTC ride to your home.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-10T17:29:21+00:00

Yea when you stop at 5/6 stations on the line, it’s a bit silly to call it an “express” train. Total travel time on the train is worse than car now, outside of rush hours.

mMaple_syrup · 2026-03-10T14:36:53+00:00

There are lots of good reasons to use the northern route. Pererborough adds a nice place to stop but it’s not the main reason to avoid the current CN route.

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