Growing natural-disaster response risks dulling Army’s fighting edge: Commander

OTTAWA — Canadian Army commander Lt.-Gen. Wayne Eyre is warning that calling the military out to more and more natural disasters could hurt the army’s ability to train for war.

The past few years have seen the military sent to help with disasters across Canada, including floods, wildfires and ice storms.

An analysis by The Canadian Press last year showed the military has been called to help with 10 weather-related disasters over the previous two years, as compared to 20 between 2007 and 2016 and only 12 between 1996 and 2006.

Those disasters often occur in the spring and fall, which are the military’s prime training periods.

That may not seem important during a time of relative peace, but Eyre says training is essential to ensure the army is ready to respond whenever and wherever a threat to the country emerges.

Eyre says training has not yet been affected to a significant degree, but he says commanders are watching closely and that it would be “dangerous” for Canadians to start looking at the Army as simply a disaster-response unit.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2020.

The Canadian Press