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I’ve always been aware – and have experienced first-hand – how appreciative the Dutch of all generations are towards Canada for liberating their country in the final months of the Second World War. The liberation is customarily observed on May 5. The Dutch will not forget the country that came to their aid.

That’s cause for celebration – but also for possible embarrassment, considering how the state of the Canadian Armed Forces compares to the Dutch military in 2019.

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Today’s Royal Netherlands Army, Navy and Air Force possess a capability that, weapon-to-weapon, surpasses Canada on most, if not all, major fronts. Unlike Canada, the Dutch have implemented, or are implementing, military modernization plans that reflect a nation and military that sees itself as an ally, not merely an appendage, of the United States.

For example, while Canada continues to dither, delay and digress in the procurement of new fighter jets, the Royal Netherlands Air Force is already in the process of replacing its aging F-16s with a fleet of 37 new F-35 Stealth Fighters, the same fighters Canada shied away from procuring. Today, one-time Canadian liberators whose fleets of Lancaster bombers and Spit fighters once filled the Dutch skies, is instead purchasing 18 second-hand F-18 fighters from Australia, another country in the process of acquiring new F-35s.