Morneau defends military budget
OTTAWA — The federal finance minister is standing by the amount of money the Liberal government currently spends on defence, saying the military is “appropriately provisioned” to address Canada’s needs.
In an interview Thursday with The Canadian Press, Finance Minister Bill Morneau left the door open to future “adjustments,” depending on what ends up in the Liberals’ new defence policy.
But his comments, combined with predictions the Liberals will run large deficits for years, are reason for worry among those expecting an injection of cash into defence in the coming months.
Morneau also played down suggestions Canada is facing pressure to increase defence spending from Washington, where U.S. President Donald Trump has called on NATO allies to do more.
Canada currently spends about one per cent of its GDP on defence, which is half the agreed-upon NATO target of two per cent and puts it in the bottom half among the allies.
“They recognize very clearly how well we’ve worked together with our allies,” Morneau said of a recent meeting with U.S. Defence Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly.
“They talked about, in specific terms, how much of an impact Canada’s military made in Afghanistan. I think we’re recognized as being a country that is playing our part. We’ll continue to do that.”
This week’s federal budget made little mention of the Canadian Armed Forces, aside from delaying $933 million in planned spending for new equipment by several years and nearly $8.5 billion over 20 years.
Otherwise, the budget deferred the decision to the government’s forthcoming new defence policy, which had been expected earlier in the year but has been delayed as officials try to get a handle on the Trump administration’s priorities.
Defence insiders and analysts have warned in the last few years that the military is being stretched thin by a lack of resources, resulting in cuts to maintenance and training and curtailed operation of ships, planes and vehicles.
They say the situation is the result of deep budget cuts under the Conservatives starting in 2012, which were followed by small increases that haven’t kept up with the military’s increased pace of activity.