Canada and the seemingly unreachable 2%

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Crimea_River said:
It's a f!cking embarrassment.
Click to expand...
Agreed. And while it's easy to blame Justin for our international shame, all our PM's since late 1980s are at fault. The decline from 2% defence spend began with Mulroney's budget 1988 of 1.99% of GDP (at the height of the Cold War, FFS), and with the very worst of all time being Harper's 2014 budget, where defence spending dropped to an embarrassing 0.99% of GDP.

Canada Military Spending/Defense Budget 1960-2024

Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are...
www.macrotrends.net www.macrotrends.net

To get our spending to over 2% would require a nearly 50% increase in defence spending. We'd need either a serious revenue cut elsewhere or tax/deficit increase to cover that.
 
I have not had a chance to review the entire report, but here is the 2024 data.

IMG_6698.jpeg


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Some positive news announced today. This was probably held back until now to appease expected ribbing at the NATO summit.

Canada launching process to acquire up to 12 conventionally-powered submarines - Canada.ca

Canada is the country with the largest coastline in the world – an underwater surveillance capability is crucial to our security and sovereignty.
www.canada.ca www.canada.ca

It's too bad we didn't get the SSNs back in the early 1990s. Washington opposed us getting them, and the penny pinching government in Ottawa seized the opportunity to back pedal.

As an arctic nation we need AIP subs, ideally nuclear-powered SSNs. With the RAN getting British/USN spec SSNs, and everyone else including the Brazilians getting SSNs of some sort, the US opposition to RCN nuclear subs is off now.
 
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Blah, blah, blah. We are ready to announce a plan for a plan to meet 2% GDP that will be contingent on the following 58 conditions....

Oh and yes, we intend to buy 12 submarines but don't know what, when, from whom, and for how much. But at least we are thinking about it. Sheesh.
 
Crimea_River said:
Blah, blah, blah. We are ready to announce a plan for a plan to meet 2% GDP that will be contingent on the following 58 conditions....

Oh and yes, we intend to buy 12 submarines but don't know what, when, from whom, and for how much. But at least we are thinking about it. Sheesh.
Click to expand...
Looks like the Conservatives are going to neglect the military as much as the Liberals.

www.cbc.ca

Poilievre won't commit to NATO 2% target, says he's 'inheriting a dumpster fire' budget balance | CBC News

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he won't commit to meeting the two per cent NATO defence spending target if he becomes prime minister.
www.cbc.ca www.cbc.ca

In 2014 then PM Harper cut the defence budget to its all time low of 0.9% of GDP. To his credit Trudeau has increased this since then by over 30%, but still no where near where we need to be.
 
A good start towards reaching the 2% and seemingly low hanging fruit would be replacing the now retired CT-155 Hawk trainers.

www.canada.ca

A New Life for the CT-155 Hawk

The CT-155 Hawk, formerly the RCAF’s Fighter Lead-in advanced jet training aircraft, is finding new life at the Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Technology and Engineering, where a fleet of 15 aircraft will soon serve as new maintenance trainers for aircraft technicians-in-training.
www.canada.ca www.canada.ca

"The Hawks were taken out of flying service in March 2024 following close to 24 years training Canadian, allied and partner nation pilots on the fundamentals of fighter jet tactics. With the aircraft no longer meeting the needs of in-air training for fifth-generation fighters like the RCAF's future CF-35A, the decision was made to cease in-air training with the jets while options for a more suitable future fighter lead-in trainer are explored. In the meantime, fighter pilots continue to be trained in places like the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas and the Italian Air Force's International Flight Training School at Decimomannu Air Base, Italy."
 
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