New MP named to National Defence Committee

Jun 27, 2025 | 6:00 AM

The Member of Parliament for Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee will spend his first term serving on a federal committee.

Conservative Scott Anderson was named to the Standing Committee on National Defence.

Anderson, who has almost a decade of military experience, including serving with the British Columbia Dragoons, as well as an academic background in Strategic Studies, said he hopes to bring his knowledge and experience to the new role, which will involve reviewing armed forces spending.

“Right now, as you’re probably aware, the Prime Minister has indicated that we’re going to be spending up to five per cent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) on NATO, by the end of the decade anyway, and this year we’re raising it to two per cent, which is where we should have been for some time,” Anderson told Vernon Matters.

“So our role on the Conservative side is to oversee that spending and monitor it and make sure it goes into the places we need the most.

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“I’ve heard the notion that we may be putting a couple deck guns on the Coast Guard ships or putting monitors on them and bringing them under DND (Department of Defence), and I’m concerned about the potential of inflating the numbers artificially like that to make it seem as if we’re spending more on the equipment, because we do need more and better equipment. We don’t just need fancy planes and better armour, we need basics: better rifles, better equipment for the soldiers.”

The local MP said the military has been neglected for a decade, and he believes that was fine until recently, and now is the time for Canada to bolster its military to not only defend itself, but also to provide forces as part of NATO if needed.

Anderson said he was honoured to be selected to the Standing Committee on National Defence, noting it was his first choice he indicated what roles he would like to take on in government.

The Vernon and area representative is newly elected, and said the first two months in office have been busy.

“The volume of information coming at me, they liken it to drinking from a firehouse. It’s an overwhelming amount of information we have to learn and habituate in a very short period of time,” Anderson told Vernon Matters, though he noted his previous experience on Vernon City Council has prepared him for some of the work.

“There are overlaps. Committee experience, for instance, is quite similar, the rules are quite similar. Because I was a city councillor I think I am better positioned to move into some of these roles than other members who don’t have that experience, but it’s still a different beast.”

He said he was still in awe of being in Ottawa and getting to be part of over 150 years of Canadian history.

by Liam Verster

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