Vanguard Magazine

36 JUNE/JULY 2020 www.vanguardcanada.com procureMent related to COVID-19. Unlike the Mul- roney and Chrétien governments, who made their decisions amid the end of Cold War tensions, or the Harper government, which was withdrawing from the combat mission in Afghanistan, this government must make its choices in an international security environment that is becoming more volatile. The spread of the virus has amplified trade and military tensions between the world's two superpowers and weakened bonds among European Union member states as they fight to secure personal pro- tective equipment and stop the contagion at their borders. Governments worldwide are now unabashedly protectionist in their efforts to prevent the export of medical equipment and vital materials. As sup- ply chains fray, pressures mount for each country to have a "sovereign" industrial capability, including in defence. In fact, the Trump administration has turned to the 1950 Defense Production Act to di- rect meatpacking plants to remain open or to restrict the export of health products (three million face masks bound for Cana- da were held up, then released). The pandemic is intensifying the Trump administration's skepticism of alliances and international institutions; in late March, there was even discussion of stationing US troops near the Canadian border (the plan was eventually abandoned). Smaller powers like Canada that have tradition- ally relied on American security guaran- tees will have to maintain their defence spending, or even increase it, as they try to strengthen old alliances and create new ones. As Timothy Choi, a naval expert at the University of Calgary has told me, an irony of the pandemic is that it may see the National Shipbuilding Strategy become a "major destination for stimulus spending in times of recession." Either way, by the time the pandemic subsides, Canadians may yet find out that there is indeed an "obvious level" to defence spending. This article was originally published on May 22, 2020, on Policy Options website (https:// policyoptions.irpp.org/) and reprinted here by permission of the author. Jeffrey F. Collins is an adjunct professor in global affairs at the University of Prince Edward Island, a former policy adviser to Canada's minister of veterans affairs and a fellow with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. The spread of the virus has amplified trade and military tensions between the world's two superpow- ers and weakened bonds among European Union member states as they fight to secure personal protective equipment and stop the contagion at their borders.

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