Federal budget expected to chart a course to meet NATO's 5% spending target
CBC
In many respects, Tuesday’s federal budget is expected to flip a long-established script for the Canadian military and the Department of National Defence.
Instead of being the institutional embodiment of the Charles Dickens character Oliver Twist — the orphan who asked for more — they are likely going to be in the uncomfortable position of having so much cash it will be hard to keep up.
That will stand in contrast to other federal departments that have been told to tighten their belts to help pay for what Prime Minister Mark Carney has termed “generational investments” in not only the military but federal infrastructure.
Those investments will take place assuming the Liberal government can muster enough votes among opposition parties to see the measures pass.
But that is a debate that will unfold over the next month.
The pressure for Canada to spend more on defence — coming from allies and even the general public — is enormous and would be there regardless of who is in charge.
It is one the key demands of the Trump administration and an expectation of NATO allies, who’ve agreed collectively to spend five per cent of the gross domestic product on defence (3.5 per cent directly on the military and 1.5 per cent in defence-related infrastructure).
And it comes in the face of a hot war in Ukraine and the a simmering dispute in the Middle East.
“I think what we'll be doing in the budget is laying track to meet the five per cent target by 2035,” Defence Minister David McGuinty said recently, after touring the Hanwha Ocean Ltd. shipyard in Geoje, South Korea, which is bidding on Canada’s multi-billion dollar submarine program.
“I think we're very clear about this commitment, not just for ourselves but all of our NATO partners. We are committed to achieving that target,” he said.
The submarine replacement program is a perfect snapshot of where the Canadian military sits at this point in time and the kind of challenges it faces.
Although, it has dominated the headlines recently, it is one of those fiscal orphans within the defence department because it has no money attached to it at the moment.
“I'm not sure when the government will make a decision about the full funding of the submarine program,” said Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, also after touring the same shipyard and spending a day at sea aboard one of the South Korean navy’s KSS-III submarines, the kind they want to sell to Canada.
“At this point, we're still working to refine the costs and make sure that we understand what this program will cost and I would expect that this does fit in within the government's commitment to get to the NATO target of five per cent.”
Montreal officials will hold a ceremony to mark the 36th anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre today.
The City of Regina's proposal to build a roadway through the McKell Wascana Conservation Park should be discarded, local conservationists say.
A holiday event that began in 2020 during the pandemic with three floats on pickup trucks has now become one of Kelowna’s big winter events, drawing thousands to the city’s downtown core.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse.
It’s been hard to keep track of how many legal challenges and active court proceedings the United Conservative government has tried to quash or pre-emptively block in the last six weeks, but let’s try to tally:
Margaret Walker, the emcee of a Waterloo vigil commemorating the victims of the Montreal massacre, doesn't feel enough is being done to reflect on the killings and address gender-based violence.
The P.E.I. Humane Society says it is doing far more fundraising than it used to, and rising expenses — including the cost of animal medications — are a big reason why.
Ottawa is staring down a court-ordered deadline to submit a new plan to reform the on-reserve child welfare system, as a group of First Nations leaders and children’s advocates prepare a competing proposal.
An underpass revitalization project that was meant to pay tribute to the people of Parkdale has instead deteriorated into “a garbage dump,” according to nearby residents.
A young man has been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm after a fire at a frat party near Western University that injured five sorority sisters, including two seriously, late Tuesday night.
The massive deal to combine one of Hollywood's oldest studios with a streaming giant hasn't even been approved yet, but it's already riling multiple related industries and politicians concerned about monopolies and media concentration.
Mi'kmaq chiefs and a former Nova Scotia justice minister are criticizing the provincial government for directing police to crack down on illegal cannabis, saying the order undermines relations with Indigenous Peoples.
For years, there has been “glaring inequity” in the way the province has allocated the millions of dollars in its county roads budget, according to Department of Transportation Minister Chuck Chiasson.