Critics attack long timelines in defence plan as military awaits a budget boost - Action News
Home WebMail Wednesday, November 13, 2024, 03:04 AM | Calgary | -1.0°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
Politics

Critics attack long timelines in defence plan as military awaits a budget boost

There will be money set aside in todays federal budget for the Department of National Defence much of it linked to the implementation of the new defence policy released with great fanfare last week by the Liberal government after more than two years of study.

Most of the spending outlined in the new defence policy is spread over decades

A soldier fires a machine gun.
A Canadian soldier fires his machine gun during Exercise Steele Crescendo, which took place outside of Riga, Latvia in 2020. (NATO Handout)

There will be money set aside in today's federal budget for the Department of National Defence (DND) much of it linked to the implementation of the new defence policy released with great fanfare last week by the Liberal government after more than two years of study.

It remains to be seen how quickly the funding will be rolled out,whether it will be affected by internal budget cuts and whether it can meet the needs of the military and placate Canada's anxious allies.

SkepticalConservative MPsripped into the defence plan Monday anddemanded action over words.

"Your entire strategy, your entire policy update is aspirational," said Conservative MP Pat Kelly, who, likehis colleagues, wants to see timelines. "It's full of 'exploring options.' It's full of 'reaffirming existing commitments.'"

The defence policy promises to invest an additional $8.1 billion in the militaryin the near-term and over $73 billion over the next two decades.

National Defence Minister Bill Blair speaks during the Ottawa Conference on Security and Defence in Ottawa on Thursday, March 7, 2024.
National Defence Minister Bill Blair says the defence policy includes spending commitments that are in the new budget. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

"In Canada, we do not publish our aspirations. We publish our funded plans, and this document talks about the money that we'll be committing in this upcoming budget," Defence Minister Bill Blair said in answer to the criticisms he faced fromthe House of Commons defence committee on Monday.

The new defence policy commitsto, among other things,buying early warning aircraft to keep watch for missile attacks overthe Arcticand purchasing long-range missiles for the army.

While DND is getting more money overall, the department is going through an internal budget cutting exercise to help pay for these new capabilities.

It's not clear how all of that is going to shake out.

"We don't know yet," Gen. Wayne Eyre, the country's top military commander, told CBC News on Friday. "And so last fall, we had those cuts, and the team has gone through a tremendous amount of painful work to determine where those would be applied."

Gen. Wayne Eyre sits down with CBC News for a year-end interview on Dec. 7, 2022.
Gen. Wayne Eyre said he doesn't know yet how a Department of National Defence cost-cutting exercise will be affected by the budget. (CBC News)

Despite the additional funding, Canada is not expected to hit NATO's benchmark for alliance members' defence spending two per cent of national gross domestic product. The new defencepolicy commits to lifting Canada's defence spending to 1.76 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade.

Several times since thedefence strategy was released, Blair hasinsisted the plan moves Canada towardthe NATO goal and that additional, unspecified investments are on the way that could push the defence budget over the two per cent line.

In his interview with CBC News, Eyre said that there arespending commitments in the defence strategy that have not been included in the fiscal framework,the federal government's long-term budget.

The defence policy says DND will study options to replace the navy's submarines. Both Blair and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have said the submarines will be replaced thatit's a matter of when and how, notif.

A submarine returns to port.
HMCS Windsor, one of Canada's Victoria-class long range patrol submarines, returns to port in Halifax on June 20, 2018. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)

The prime minister even went a step further and suggested nuclear-powered submarines are among the possible options something Eyre said surprised him.

"We don't have firm direction on that," Eyre said, indicating the navy has proposed acquiring between eight and 12 conventionally-powered submarines.

"Within the military, we are not pursuing a nuclear option. However, discussions are early. As we take a look at what would be required for a nuclear capability versus what we realistically have,that is an option that I personally doubt will befurther explored or further developed. That being said, we remain open to all options."

The budget is also expected to offer money for Ukraine as part of the security framework agreement signed by the two nations last winter.

Although it's separate from the defence appropriation, Canada has committed over $4 billion in military aid to Ukraine. Much of thataidis still being delivered.