Rivers: Do we Build Canada Strong with Artillery Systems from the US Government?

By Ray Rivers

June 6th, 2026

BURLINGTON, ON

It’s not clear how Canada’s $2.6 billion purchase of 26 HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) artillery systems from the US government makes Canada strong…. or less dependent on that big bully south of the border.

The whole notion of NATO’s 5% (or even 2%) of GDP spending target for defence is arbitrary.  And it was, after all, scripted by the world’s foremost arms exporter.  And we, like many other NATO subscribers, mostly buy what America tells us to buy.

High Mobility Artillery Rocket System

So PM Carney promises to liberate us from US 75% domination of our national security infrastructure – and then does this…  in the midst of an economic war with the Americans.  And buying HIMARS made with US steel when Trump has stifled our industry with a 25% tariff.   And how can it be a good idea to buy weapons of war from our war-like neighbour who is threatening to make this country the American 51st state?

Yes, we Canadians understand that a succession of governments of all stripes have allowed our once proud military to erode.  And we need to take defending this country seriously.  That means more soldiers and submarines and aircraft and drones so we can defend ourselves should the Russians or Chinese arrive uninvited.

But these pricey HIMARS have a missile range of 500 kms – not over the north pole or across the Pacific.  They worked great in the crowded battleground of Ukraine, at least until the Russians learned how to block their GPS signals.  And should we ever end up in a land war with the Americans we’ll need to remember the Yanks made them and have far more than we do.

German Leopard tanks.

The Minister says we need them because there is currently no Canadian manufacturer for the HIMARS launcher system or associated long-range missile capability.  There is probably a good reason for that.  Chances are they’ll end up rusting, parked out next to some of the 80 now decrepit German Leopard tanks we bought for that failed mission in Afghanistan.  There was no Canadian manufacturer for those either.

Perhaps, since the contract is signed and sealed anyway, the best thing we can do is to redirect them to where they are really needed – over in Ukraine.  Unfortunately, they won’t arrive until 2029.  With any luck, the war in Europe will be over by then.  But, at least, we’ll have had time to find a parking spot next to those rusting 2A4 Leopards.

Ray Rivers, a Gazette Contributing Editor, writes regularly applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking.  Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington.  He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject.   Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa.  Tweet @rayzrivers

Background links:

HIMARS –     Purchase HIMARS –      More HIMARS –