Murray Brewster

Senior reporter, defence and security

Murray Brewster is senior defence writer for CBC News, based in Ottawa. He has covered the Canadian military and foreign policy from Parliament Hill for over a decade. Among other assignments, he spent a total of 15 months on the ground covering the Afghan war for The Canadian Press. Prior to that, he covered defence issues and politics for CP in Nova Scotia for 11 years and was bureau chief for Standard Broadcast News in Ottawa.

Latest from Murray Brewster

Canada ponders 'top secret' data cloud as allies push ahead with intelligence-sharing plans

The U.S., Australia and the United Kingdom have all moved to establish top secret cloud infrastructure to handle defence and national security data. Canada is still in the early stages of consulting on the issue — a delay experts say will have a profound impact on new military hardware and the country's intelligence-sharing ability.

Canadian Forces struggling with a training bottleneck, commander tells MPs

The Canadian military has just as much of a problem with training as it does with recruiting, a House of Commons committee was told Thursday.
Analysis

Thinking the 'unthinkable': NATO wants Canada and allies to gear up for a conventional war

For decades, Canadian governments have avoided thinking about what it would take to fight a long conventional war. Now, NATO is asking members to develop national plans to bolster their defence industrial capacity. Can NATO put Canadian industry on a 'war footing'?
Analysis

The U.S. needs a few good allies. Does it still need Canada?

Eight decades after the United States extended its security umbrella to cover Canada, the alliance is being undermined by Washington's growing exasperation with Ottawa's attitude toward defence spending.

Ukraine desperately needs surplus Canadian armour, ambassador tells MPs

Ukraine's ambassador to Canada says her country is in dire need of armoured vehicles and hopes Canada's plan to supply rebuilt troop carriers proceeds quickly.

Ottawa asks defence contractors to make pitches for new submarine fleet

The federal government is asking defence contractors in allied nations about the sorts of submarines and maintenance capabilities they could offer Canada.

Canada's plan to donate refurbished armour to Ukraine is still spinning its wheels

A plan to rebuild and modernize two dozen decommissioned Canadian light armoured vehicles for donation to Ukraine is stuck in bureaucratic limbo more than nine months after the defence department handed the vehicles over to an Ontario company that specializes in restoration, CBC News has learned.

Canadian Army says new military sleeping bags not suitable for 'typical Canadian winter'

Canadian Army recommended troops heading to Alaskan military exercise earlier this year be issued 1960s vintage sleeping bags after soldiers complain that their new bedrolls, which cost taxpayers $34.8 million, were not suitable for "for typical Canadian winter conditions."

Ombudsman launches probe of Ottawa's treatment of Afghan-Canadian military advisers

Canada's military ombudsman has launched a review of the Department of National Defence's (DND) treatment of former language and cultural advisers who served alongside Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

One of the military's simplest procurement projects is being tied down by red tape

Despite facing heavy pressure to ramp up military spending, the Department of National Defence has slow-rolled one of the least complex of its vehicle replacement programs.