It has been a positive start to the month with the recent announcement by our Prime Minister that his government is going to put a priority into rebuilding the Canadian Armed Forces and focusing on the defence of our country. He is committed to finally spending two percent of our GDP on defence by the end of the current fiscal year. The details of the PM’s announcement are available in The Torch, Now we need to see results.
We had a successful collaborative event on 28 May with RCMI Kingston. The topic was the Canadian Military College’s recent review board report and our two speakers were Captain (retired) Scott Stevenson and Doctor John Cowan. The event was hosted and funded by RCMI and we had a very good turnout, and there was excellent discussion on the impact of the report. Thank you in particular to Commodore (Retd) Bob Hamilton for a his significant role in organizing the event.
Our Institute is responsible for supporting cadet corps in our local area and Gary Coulter has been instrumental in making sure that we remain closely connected to these important cadets. Gary and I recently attended the year end parade for the Brockville Cadet Corps where we awarded cash prizes to one of the most deserving cadets and also the best marksmen. We will continue to support these Corps and I am looking for a volunteer to give Gary a hand with this responsibility.
I was also very happy to see that former CDS General (Retd) Tom Lawson was appointed to success Lieutenant-General (Retd) Guy Thibeau as Chair of the CDA Institute. Many thanks to Guy for his phenomenal efforts as the Chair over the many years and a warm welcome and best wishes to Tom Lawson as he picks up the reigns of this vitally important national CDA organization.
Our next speaker on 19 June will be General (retired) Wayne Eyre. Wayne will speak to us about his experiences as our Chief of defence Staff and what capabilities our Forces require to meet our defence challenges. This will be our final event before we reconvene in September so let’s have good turnout. Make sure you have 17 October on your calendar for our Defence Forum and Centennial Dinner. Planning is well underway and additional information will follow.
Have a great summer!
