Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will present the new budget plan on Thursday. A senior government source, speaking in the background on Wednesday, said the billions of dollars in new budget defense spending would be above and beyond the increases the liberal government committed to in its defense policy in 2017. As Secretary of Defense Anita Anand pointed out in a speech last month, the federal government is making a significant multi-year investment in NORAD, the US-Canada Joint Air and Naval Administration. NORAD is the backbone of end-of-life radar stations. The source said the Liberal government also plans to invest heavily in Ukraine’s arms market to help defend itself against an increasingly brutal Russian invasion. Anand recently acknowledged that the stock of weapons he can donate to the Canadian Army has been severely depleted. The source said that the main request of Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky to the government of Prime Minister Justin Trinto is for more weapons. The confidential source – who was not authorized to speak officially but is aware of the dossier – said the budget would also include funding to cover critical equipment shortages within the Canadian military itself. Some of the investments, such as funding for NORAD, will be distributed over several years, while other more immediate markets – such as arms for Ukraine – will affect existing results. An elderly woman walks through an apartment building destroyed by Russian bombing in Borodyanka, Ukraine on Wednesday, April 6, 2022. (Efrem Lukatsky / AP)
The Liberal government is under increasing pressure from allies to increase defense spending in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Trudeau, Freeland and Anand recently said the military could expect more funding. They declined to say whether Canada would meet NATO’s benchmark for member states’s military budgets – two per cent of gross domestic product. The source said that the fiscal measures to be announced on Thursday are expected to bring Canada’s defense budget to 1.5 percent of GDP and are intended to demonstrate a “real effort” to achieve the 2 percent long-term goal – a goal in which all 30 countries of the western military alliance are committed. Pressure on Canada to meet this commitment – or at least have a plan to do so – has recently increased when Germany, often considered one of the most pacifist allies, reversed decades of foreign policy by announcing its intention to cover 2% of GDP. . target.

The conservative proposal for military funding fails

Inside the House of Commons, opposition Conservatives saw their proposal – calling on the federal government to meet NATO’s two per cent benchmark – defeated by the ruling Liberals and New Democrats. “Today’s vote is proof that this NDP-Liberal government cannot be relied upon to make the necessary investments in our national defense to provide the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces with the equipment they need,” said the Conservative defense critic. Kerry-Lynne Findlay. in a statement by the media. “At a time when the world is becoming less secure, there is an urgent need for Canada to contribute its fair share to the NATO alliance, which has preserved the peace and security that Canadians have enjoyed for the past 73 years.” Outside the House of Commons on Wednesday, Anand only said she was “excited” about the budget. “Leadership demands that we address the challenges we face as we build for the future. Canadians expect this from us and I look forward to sitting next to Secretary Freeland tomorrow as she delivers her budget,” he said.

Defense policy is being rewritten

In addition to the extra cash in the federal budget, Freeland is expected to announce a major new defense policy review. Its purpose is to renew the liberal government’s five-year plan, which critics say is outdated – largely because of growing rivalry between major powers such as the US, Russia and China, and the threat of more than a state in a state of conflict. such as the war in Ukraine. Rob Hubert, a defense specialist at the University of Calgary, said he was “delighted” to hear that a major investment was being made. But he said the size of the investment “shows how far behind we are”. He said the Liberals’ latest defense policy – which set out a roadmap for increasing defense spending by 70 percent, raising the total budget to $ 32.7 billion by 2026/2027 – is another work in progress. development. A number of significant equipment purchases have been delayed, with deliveries and costs heading towards the end of this decade.

“Is this a change in behavior? I hope so.’

Hubert said he was skeptical of the federal government’s intentions. “If they really start spending the $ 8 billion … once again, I’m so skeptical,” he said. “This government does not want to deal with the international community [hard power] geopolitics. So, is this a change of behavior, a change of perspective? I hope so. We need it… but I still have to be convinced to see that it really is maintained “. Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi defended the Liberal government’s history regarding the purchase of military equipment. “I would say [that] “In terms of military spending, we were strong,” he said. “I mean, at the moment we are in the middle of … the supply of 88 fighter jets. “We are committed to the national shipbuilding strategy and since last December 2021, we have invested over $ 21 billion in it.” Both projects reported by Tassi have experienced significant delays and cost increases or costly extensions of existing weapons systems. Just last week, the Liberal government announced that it was buying the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jet after a four-and-a-half-year tender. Experts will monitor to see how much of the increased costs will be allocated to NORAD. Although NORAD referred to the latest defense policy, no price was attached. Improvements to the continental defense system over the age of six must be made, regardless of the war in Ukraine, experts say. Some of these experts have estimated the cost to Canada of upgrading NORAD to between $ 4 billion and $ 6 billion over several years. RCAF Colonel Travis Morehen speaks at the North American Aerospace Defense Command on Mount Cheyenne, Colo., May 10, 2018. (Dan Elliott / The Associated Press)
Jim Ferguson, a defense expert at the University of Manitoba, said the public should watch closely to see how much of this expected spending is the federal government’s new investment in defense. “That was coming,” he said, referring to NORAD’s modernization. “The political situation in Europe did it, I’m not sure if I was pleased, but it certainly pushed the government to see that it was doing something, especially in the context of the alleged pressure from NATO allies.” The other thing to look out for, he said, is the DND’s ability to actually spend money. Such large projects require staff to take care of them until they are completed, he said, and both liberal and conservative governments have reduced staffing needs over the years.