Canada to hike military spending by 70 percent over next decade
By
Roger Jordan
10 June 2017
Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan presented a new defence policy Wednesday that calls for $62 billion in additional military spending over the next two decades. Coming just a day after Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland declared that Canada must use “hard power,” the massive rearmament program makes clear that the Liberal government is determined to wage war in pursuit of Canadian imperialism’s global interests and ambitions.
The new defence policy calls for an additional 5,000 troops, the purchase of 88 fighter jets rather than the 65 proposed by the previous government, 15 new warships, the purchase of armed drones for surveillance and combat, and billions of dollars’ worth of additional armored and supply vehicles for the army. Under the policy, Canada’s military will also develop a team of cybersecurity experts to conduct offensive online “disruption” activities.
More than a year in the making, the Liberal government’s defence policy includes a 73 percent hike in military spending over the next decade. In dollar terms, the defence budget will climb from its current level of $18.9 billion to $32.7 billion in 2026-27. Most of the new funds are penciled in following 2021, but even before then, billions more will be spent on improving Canada’s war capabilities. The increases will, according to the government’s estimates, increase the defence budget to 1.4 percent of GDP, still below the NATO target of 2 percent.
There can be no doubting the aggressive intent behind the spending hikes. In her speech Tuesday, Freeland reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to its strategic partnership with US imperialism and listed a series of potential adversaries, including…