EDITORIAL: Time to change our position on defense

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In a world not torn by the global conflicts in Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and Niger, it might have been appropriate if members of a Royal Canadian Navy band had led a conga line in downtown Havana.

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Tensions are currently higher than at any time since World War II. It behooves our military personnel to act as the serious fighting force we pay them to be, and not as light entertainment for a country allied with a hostile nation.

Cuba can be a popular tourist getaway for Canadians during our long, cold winter. Nevertheless, it is within the Russian sphere of influence. The visit by Canadian patrol and supply ship Margaret Brooke came as American and Canadian ships monitored the progress of several Russian ships, including nuclear submarines and a frigate, in the Caribbean. The flotilla was a revenge move by Russian President Vladimir Putin to warn Western countries of his anger over their decision to allow Ukraine to attack targets in Russia.

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Defense Secretary Bill Blair characterized the nature of the Canadian ship’s deployment as a deterrent to Moscow. On June 17, the Canadian Embassy in Havana published photos of RCN band members entertaining a conga line of revelers through the Cuban capital. According to a Ministry of Defense spokesperson, four members of the band took part.

Human rights organizations are not amused.

“Disappointed to see the Royal Canadian Navy running the conga lines in Cuba, with over 1,000 political prisoners,” wrote activist Michael Lima of the group Democratic Spaces on X.

“The Cuban regime is Putin’s most important ally in the Western Hemisphere in his war of aggression against Ukraine.”

So much for the ‘deterrent’.

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It’s bad enough that our allies in NATO view this country as a lightweight in defense. If the ship had made a courtesy visit to, say, an American port or another NATO country, Canada might have shown its frivolous side. This deployment was supposed to show that Canada was using its military strength, but it failed miserably in that goal.

It is time for this country to change its tune and start taking seriously the defense of this country in an increasingly dangerous world.

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