Rick Hillier’s new bank job highlights the tightening ties between finance and militarism.
On August 10 Canada’s Chief of the Defence Staff from 2005 to 2008 was made Strategic Defence Advisor for the National Bank of Canada. According to the country’s sixth biggest bank, Canada’s former top soldier “will provide strategic advice on defence-related trends and contribute insights on issues affecting Canada’s resilience, security, advanced manufacturing, aerospace and the defence industrial base.”
Alongside most of Canada’s other banks, National Bank recently became a member of the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI). The bank also participated in CADSI’s massive CANSEC arms bazar in May and promoted Montreal’s bid to host the new NATO “war bank”. Hillier served on the board of Carney’s new Defence, Security and Resilience Bank until his appointment to the National Bank. The NATO bank and National Bank’s head will be part of Mark Carney’s upcoming CEO summit in Toronto, which will further marry finance and the arms industry.
According to National Bank CEO Laurent Ferreira, “General Hillier is one of Canada’s most respected military leaders and strategic thinkers.” In fact, he is a fanatic war mongering Zionist who backed Donald Trump’s threats against Canada.
Soon after becoming Chief of the Defence Staff in 2005 Hillier infamously proclaimed: “We are going to Afghanistan to actually take down the folks that are trying to blow up men and women … we’re not the public service of Canada, we’re not just another department. We are the Canadian Forces, and our job is to be able to kill people.”
Hillier publicly referred to the enemy in Afghanistan as a “bowl of snakes” and openly sympathized with Afghan warlords. In March 2006, Maclean’s reported on Hillier’s “enormous respect for the warlords — even making allowances for those who profit from the poppy business.” The magazine quoted the Chief of the Defence Staff saying: “I saw the finest leaders that I have ever had the opportunity to meet. They beat the Russians pretty fairly and squarely, at the end of the day they were responsible for thumping the Taliban and throwing them out, along with a significant number of Al-Qaeda folks.”
Hillier promoted what some euphemistically describe as “forward defence”. Drawing a dubious hockey analogy, the then Chief of the Defence Staff claimed in 2005 “the best defense for Canada is a good offense. We must play a significant part in the world to prevent that violence and conflict coming home.”
Hillier hasn’t seen a US/NATO/Israeli war he didn’t like. Soon after Russia’s 2022 invasion Hillier raised the idea of creating a “no-fly zone” over Ukraine. A no-fly zone over Ukraine would mean an open war with Russia, forcing the US or NATO to shoot down Russian planes.
Over the past three years of Israeli horrors in Gaza, Hillier has gone full genocidaire. He argues international law and the UN charter are skewed against Western democracies defending themselves and has called on the police to repress anti-genocide protesters. Hillier delivered the keynote address for a May 2025 fundraiser for Beit Halochem Canada/Aid to Disabled Veterans of Israel, which supports injured IOF soldiers. He also published a May 2024 National Post column demanding “Stop funding UNRWA. UNRWA has long been known for providing sympathy and support for Hamas.”
Immediately after the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 Hillier applauded the aggression. The former army head called on Ottawa to formally assist the criminality.
A graduate of the US Army War College and the first Canadian Deputy Commander of the Texas-based General III Corps, Hillier has backed Donald Trump’s threats against Canada. After the US president raised making Canada the fifty first state, Hillier complained about Canada and backed “Trump supporter Kevin O’Leary’s proposal for a common dollar, integrated border and immigration requirements and common economic approaches with the U.S.”
In a sense Hillier’s appointment to the National Bank is nothing new. Former Canadian Forces leaders, including Hillier, regularly take up positions with banks and corporations. Having said that, the growing scope of militarization is remarkable.
Two decades after leaving the armed forces, maybe the country’s most odious militarist has been given a special banking position and the business media trumpets it as if it is good news. Some of us disagree.