Defence spending is on the ballot this election. So is military 'culture', say some N.B. voters
Recent changes to dress code part of simmering dissatisfaction with direction of military
Canada's military has featured prominently in the discourse this federal election, with questions about its preparedness amid moves by U.S. President Donald Trump to upend the conventional global order.
But while federal party leaders make promises about boosting defence spending, some in New Brunswick's military community say more money isn't the only change they want to see after this election.
"I think if [military members] are feeling burnt out and not appreciated, and there's not the equipment to do the things that they need to do, they're going to feel low," said Jennafer Lapierre, the wife of a 25-year member of the Canadian Forces.
"So definitely money is part of it, but you know, there's the whole culture of the military right now is a little bit, like, lacking morale overall."
In their campaigns ahead of the April 28 federal election, the Conservatives, Liberals and New Democrats have each pledged to increase spending.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney said he'd bring defence spending up to two per cent of Canada's GDP — in line with the NATO benchmark — by 2030.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promised to "work toward" that target, as did the NDP.
Voted different ways in past
Lapierre said she's voted Conservative in some elections, including in 2008, when she felt former prime minister Stephen Harper was better for the military at a time when her husband was being deployed to Afghanistan.
She said she's also voted Liberal — notably in 2015, in response to cuts Harper went on to make to Veterans Affairs.
This time around, Lapierre said she's pleased with the parties' promises about defence spending, and has been undecided about how she'll vote.
But she's leaning toward the message from Poilievre that speaks to a less tangible gripe about the direction the military has taken in recent years.
"I liked when Poilievre said that he wanted to bring back, like, warrior culture, because I feel like that's lacking right now, and I think a lot of people will embrace that," Lapierre said.
Speaking to the Toronto Sun last December, Poilievre claimed an "insane, woke DEI obsession" by the Liberals and NDP was to blame for the Forces' recruitment challenges, and said that as prime minister, he'd "bring back a warrior culture" focused on fighting for Canada.
Poilievre repeated that message at an event in Ottawa in February, when he said, "Our military will be guided by a warrior culture not a woke culture."
CBC News asked the Conservative Party if Poilievre could elaborate on how he would change military culture, but there was no response.
South of the border, U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators during his confirmation hearing in January that Trump picked him "to bring the warrior culture" back to his department.
Hegseth has gone on to defend executive orders by Trump seeking to ban diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives from the military, and banning transgender people from serving.
Hair regulations under fire
Lapierre admits it's unclear what Poilievre means with his warrior-culture promise.
But his message partly resonates with specific concerns she has about military's direction, particularly with its allowing long hair, beards and face tattoos on soldiers.
"It's definitely making some of the the older vets and some of the people that have been in a long time … want to exit because it's no longer the military that they chose to serve in. It's very different now."
Faced with challenges in recruiting members, the Canadian Forces have taken steps to become more inclusive, by dropping some acceptance requirements and removing restrictions on tattoos, and hair and nail length for men and women.
Those grooming standards, which were dramatically loosened in 2022, were opposed by active service members and veterans alike. In response, the military updated the rules last year to limit beard length and require longer hair be worn neatly.
The military has also dropped aptitude tests from its recruitment process and is now considering applicants with medical conditions that now would disqualify them entirely.
Lapierre said she recognizes the military's personnel challenges, but thinks they'd be better solved by efforts to provide more affordable housing and better medical care for service members and their families.
By tackling recruitment through loosening certain standards, she said, the military risks demoralizing members who joined for the clean-cut, uniform image long attached to it.
"While it's going to maybe draw some people in because they'll be like 'It's more relaxed and I like it', other people are like, 'No, I wanted the discipline, I wanted the structure'."
CBC News asked the Department of Defence for an interview with Col. Paul Williams, commander for 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown.
Capt. Mike MacNeill, public affairs officer for the base, said Williams cannot make comments about issues during the election.
CBC News also approached active members on the street for interviews about the issues they're concerned about in this election. All of them declined, saying they were not allowed to comment.
Better training should be focus, says veteran
Like Lapierre, Scott Kelly has voted both Liberal and Conservative over his life, which involved 24 years in the military before he retired in 2012.
This election, he's voting Conservative, driven largely by pocketbook issues.
But when it comes to the military, Kelly said, he and other veterans are concerned standards have become lax.
"When you do that, you're going to have a trickle-[down] effect that the quality of the veteran is going to diminish because they don't have the same standards as it did when I was in."
Kelly said he thinks the Conservative Party is best attuned to the changes he wants to see happen in the military, both on culture and spending.
He thinks additional spending should go toward improving the military's training capacity and providing more opportunities for members to upgrade their skills. That, in turn, could bolster recruitment and morale.
"So we don't need that one [new] boat. We need maybe 50 smaller things, and put money back into the training, so that we get the proper people working in the proper jobs."
Culture likely won't be deciding issue, researcher says
The federal riding of Fredericton-Oromocto includes 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown, which directly employs 6,000 service members and 1,000 civilians.
In the last election, in 2021, Liberal candidate Jenica Atwin won with 37 per cent of votes, narrowly beating the 35.9 per cent of votes won by Conservative candidate Andrea Johnson. Polling station data show voters in Fredericton voted more Liberal, while those in Oromocto voted more Conservative.
Concerns about recent changes to the military will likely play a role in voting intentions for active members and veterans this time, said Charlotte Duval-Lantoine, a defence researcher specializing in social issues in the military.
But to what degree is difficult to know, she said.
"Every time we see changes like this in the military culture, we always see a pushback," said Duval-Lantoine, of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
"And here, given the political context, which brings a wide-ranging pushback against diversity, equity and inclusion reforms, and knowing that the military tends to skew more conservative than the Canadian population on average, we will see also a pushback against those issues."
Duval-Lantoine also noted that while Poilievre has attempted to connect the Liberals and NDP to recent policy changes by the military, it's not a completely accurate or fair portrayal.
Though the changes in dress standards were made during the Liberals' time in office, they were implemented by retired Gen. Wayne Eyre, she said.
Duval-Lantoine said military members — like the general public — are also affected by the increased cost of living, the housing shortage and poor access to primary health care.
If greater defence spending stands to improve those problems, she said, it will likely be a more important issue for military members when they vote.
"I do think that the heart of the issues that they're having are similar to what Canadians care about," she said. "That is affordability, housing, access to health care and and those questions are deeply tied to defence spending."
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