The Naval Officers Association of BC's November 22nd Surrender Day luncheon followed a strong tradition with an excellent speaker, Dr James Boutilier. Dr Boutilier is a historian who is very current on naval matters, serving as he does as Special Advisor (Policy) to Maritime Forces Pacific Headquarters in Esquimalt.
On the topic of NATO, Dr Boutilier reminded the audience that the US pays 75% of the bills. The UK, for all its problems, still meets the target of 2%, while Canada does not. Meanwhile, the Chinese navy is expanding at a furious pace, moving into the areas of modern submarines and aircraft carriers. He says both civilian shipping and naval forces are more and more being concentrated in the Pacific, as opposed to the Atlantic theatres.
And speaking of submarines, I was gratified to hear that Canada's much-maligned Victoria class will see bright days ahead as they become operational in the relatively near future.
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