Senator Dagenais: The government you represent claims to have developed an economic policy based on the countries of Indochina to counter China’s power in the Asia-Pacific region. The same article in La Presse reported that the growing number of delays in equipment procurement and chronic underinvestment in the military have ensured that Canada is not welcome in AUKUS, the pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States that was created in 2021 to counter Chinese power.

Are we to conclude that Canada and its military are no longer reliable enough to be part of certain strategic alliances with some of the world’s major powers?