As has been widely reported the Liberal
government’s first budget has no new money for big-ticket military items and
instead shrinks funding by $3.72-billion over five years to account for major
delays in plans to buy new fighter jets and ships.
In a pre election position paper entitled “Real
Change, a plan to strengthen the economy and create jobs with navy investment.”
the party argued that; “The Canada
First Defence Strategy is under funded and out of date. We will immediately
begin an open and transparent review process to create a new Defence White
Paper that will replace Harper’s failed Canada First Defence Strategy.”
The same paper suggested that “A Liberal government will take immediate
action to ensure that Canada’s
Armed Forces have the equipment they need – and the support they require – to
protect Canada
and its sovereignty, while also growing local economies and creating jobs”
Of course that was then,
before an election, and this is now, in a real budget, and it would appear that
both “immediate action” and the idea
of using increased defence funding to “strengthen
the economy and create jobs” will have to wait. In fact the government has reallocated $3.761 billion from
the 2016-17 to 2020-21 fiscal periods to future years so as to “align better
with timelines for large-scale procurement projects, such as the replacement of
Canada’s aging fleets of CF-18 fighter aircraft and maritime warship”
Of course there is nothing
new about a Canadian government of any stripe finding it advisable to postpone
defence spending. In fact this practice, like the Leafs disappointing their
fans or Quebec
running out of step with the rest of the country, could be considered one of
the great verities of Canadian life.
The budget did however
re-state the Liberal campaign commitment to develop a new defence strategy that
the government says will include measures for accurate costing for major
defence procurement, as well as providing Canadians with regular updates on
project costs and timelines
If it is true that the
government hopes to develop a new defence strategy, by which we take it to mean
they plan to write a new Defence White Paper, then perhaps the time has come to
adapt “Sunny Ways”
process.
There are a lot of questions that need to be
answered: "What role will the Canadian Armed Forces play in the defence of Canada?
Where and how will the Canadian Armed Forces cooperate with United States military forces in the defence of North America? Why, how and where will the Canadian Armed
Forces be deployed abroad? What are the Canadian interests that will guide our
military deployments? What kind of military do we need?"
But before these questions
can be answered a fundamental change has to occur. The government must
consult the public, industry and the other political parties and find agreement
from all on the essential ingredients a of Canadian defence policy.
What is needed is all-party
consensus that military defence is in the national interest. To achieve
this Canadians must convince their politicians that there is a strong public
expectation that political parties and their leaders will work together to
achieve a common vision on security which will inform choices on strategic
policy, defence budgets and procurement
Canada has not had a broad public or political consensus on
major military matters for some years and there is no chance that will happen
as long as Canadians and their elected representatives do not regard national
defence as a priority. If there is any good to come of this budget then it may be because this will be a chance for that to happen.
Military left waiting on
big-ticket items as Liberals shrink funding in budget
Real Change, a plan to
strengthen the economy and create jobs with navy investment
Military equipment gets no
extra funding
Why Canada's New National
Defence Policy Matters
