War vibes

When FM Joly introduced Canada’s new and improved Arctic Foreign Policy, her preamble provided the rationale. Russian aggression. That’s right! Make no mistake; Putin is bent on world domination. He’s not going to stop at Ukraine. No! After Ukraine, all of Europe is in his cross-hairs. Once his army has made it to the English Channel, his greedy imperialist gaze will turn north, to what used to be the Canadian Arctic, now the North American Arctic, or just the “American Arctic” for short. That’s why we have to be ready. Let’s unpack this. In three years, Russia’s invasion has captured about 20% of Ukraine. Simple arithmetic says it’ll be another 12 years to make it to the Polish border. We’re in 2036 now. Then, the 84 year old Putin, assuming he’s still in the big chair, will have to fight his way through Poland and Germany. No offence to the Ukrainians, but I figure if it took Putin 15 years to subdue Ukraine, Poland and Germany will take at least 30 years each. Then he’s gonna set his sites on Canada’s… I mean America’s Arctic. That brings us to 2096. Putin is 144 years old. I figure by then our new fleet of warships, first announced in 2008, will be mostly if not fully operational. So bring it on, Putin! We’re not afraid of you!