Retired general Wayne Eyre, Canada’s former chief of the defence staff, says he considered resigning “several times” during his tenure amid clashes with the former Trudeau government over the military’s sexual misconduct scandal and defence spending, according to his new memoir, Into the Breach: A Soldier’s Journey, published Sept. 28, 2026.
Eyre, who was promoted from army commander to the top job after now-retired admiral Art MacDonald stepped aside in February 2021, described the experience of navigating the misconduct scandal as “soul crushing.” He recounted a June 2021 incident in which he felt thrown “under the bus” by then-deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland after she publicly questioned his decision to keep Vice-Admiral Craig Baines in his post as navy commander. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also publicly questioned the decision. Baines had played golf with former CDS Jonathan Vance, who was under military police investigation over allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
Eyre said he was on the phone with Trudeau, about to resign, when Trudeau said he still had confidence in him. Trudeau then issued a further statement of support. Eyre served another three years after the incident.
Eyre also detailed frustrations over the government’s handling of Ukraine support. He said Canada received advanced warning from Washington on Feb. 11, 2022, that Russian President Vladimir Putin had decided to invade Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. Eyre described a “collision of ideology with reality” over the government’s reluctance to approve lethal aid, and criticized its “inability to make decisions at the speed of war.” He noted Canada later outstripped allies in delivering some equipment, such as Leopard tanks.
During Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s September 2023 visit to Canada, Eyre wrote that he and other senior military leaders had a hard time reconciling “bellicose” speeches from Trudeau and Freeland with a “billion-dollar budget cut” and “lethargy to approve a new defence policy.” He also described confusion in June 2022 over where $38 billion in funding for a new NORAD commitment would come from, calling it a “smoke and mirrors” approach that reallocated billions already earmarked for other equipment.
Eyre said he ultimately stayed because resigning “is an inherently political act” that could further fray political-military relations and cause turmoil in the institution. He now says Canada needs more “urgency” in rebuilding its military.
Sources: CBC Politics · Global News Canada