Government defence spending unsustainable, watchdog says

The Parliamentary Budget Officer says the federalgovernment will need to either pour more money into its defence
budget or scale back its ambitions in order to put Canada's militaryon a sustainable footing.

A new report by the PBO says the Defence Department's forcestructure is "unsustainable" at current funding levels.

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The PBO says if program costs and the budget allocation are notbalanced, there will be a deterioration in the capabilities of thecurrent force structure.

The report says that means there will be a reduction in thenumbers and types of equipment and potentially fewer troops.

The PBOsays the cost of maintaining the Canadian Forces between 1995 and 2014 rose by 1.5 percent a year. Budgets through that period rose 1.9 percent a year.

2015 marks a budget turning point, though. Starting this year, defence budgets will have to rise by 2.5 percent a year ifthe government wants to maintain the current force structure.

The report blames the most recent episode of federal budget trimming for the shortfall.

The report comes as MPs are set to debate a motion to expand andextend Canada's war against ISISto include airstrikes on extremistpositions in Syria.

The motion seeks Parliament's blessing to extend the mission "to a date not beyond March 30, 2016."