Military spending at highest point since WWII

What, we've been involved in a war for 10 years now, people have just discovered we are spending more on the military ?

omg, stop the fucking presses.

Cuts are coming, I think everyone sees that.

Better that than wasting it on humanitarian aid.

What's the point? During the Chretien deficit they cut it to the bone and now they are buying some equipment. And not that much either.

I like how the peace advocate groups use violent phrases like 'Canada could "punch above it's weight"' when discribing contributions to humanitarian and environmental causes, but shudder at the thought of contribution to the military when mentioned.

The humanitarian causes are now capable of 'punching above their weight' since we bought the C17's.

Remember how DART sat on Trenton's tarmac waiting 14 days for a rental Antonov from the Ukraine? Glory days indeed.

The military are probably the most effective organisation in a disaster-relief scenario and the C17's and the new 'J' model Herks will be good to go anywhere.

Unlike the 2005 Tsunami when we couldn't even deploy DART.

You generally have to cut the military when you inherit the largest peace time deficit in Canadian history.

What are you going to cut? The icebreakers you don't have? The helicopters you don't have? The shipyards you don't have? The fighter bases you don't have? The cruisers and carriers you don't have?

Cut away and then STFU when you have a need and your military has to beg a ride, spares, or kit from someone else again.

What are you going to cut? The icebreakers you don't have? The helicopters you don't have? The shipyards you don't have? The fighter bases you don't have? The cruisers and carriers you don't have?

Cut away and then STFU when you have a need and your military has to beg a ride, spares, or kit from someone else again.
We used to have them until Mulroney decided it was a good time to spend more than any peacetime PM ever and the liberals had to fix the mess. When it comes down to weapons or healthcare, I'll take healthcare.

I think jeff is trying to justify Chretiens' slash and burn of the CF during his tenure Bart.

Are you trying to justify Mulroney slash and burn of the Canadian economy? Even the US is looking at cutting military drastically to fight the deficit, soldiers don't fight well when the government can't afford to pay them anymore.

Nope, but Chretien has always been anti-CF in his slant. He learned well from Darth Trudeau. The decisions made in the Chretien era still haunt the CF.

You either fund a military properly or don't bother at all. Under Chretien we had the worst of both worlds.

How do we fund a military when we can barely afford our current system? Quebec swallows up billions yearly that could be sent to the forces, military is always the first that gets cut and when those cuts manages to make a surplus Quebec tries to make it a deficit. If you want military spending you have to fix the entire system's corruption and no politician has ever done that very well.

Oh, remember who killed the Canadian military aerospace industry by killing the Arrow?

The Arrow is ancient history and it's importance to our defence has been well overblown and now is a very nice fairy tale, much like the TSR-2 in the UK.

I'm not going to get into mythical disscusions about funding. If a government is serious about defence, it will fund it properly and if it isn't serious, well check out what happened under Chretien to the CF. Boys going to combat in an Iltis.

For a good close up view of what was going on in the Decade of Darkness under Chretien, read Rick Hillier's book; "A Soldier First."

The military guys in the forum all know too well what happened in those years, it seems to have passed you by or were you too young?

I was never in the military those years(my father was), but even I can see and feel the repercussion of those years in my job. Im glad that when I was in Afghanistan we had the support we need, I only hope that the next war I am in wont be coming home in a bag due to lack of support.

The Arrow had multiple uses including sale to fund more and better aircraft for Canada, it is one of few aircraft that would still have a use today (mk.4 for recon)

So you would rather we shut down a few dozen hospitals instead?

I know what happened to the military and I am well aware of how we are still recovering but I am at least smart enough to realize that a well funded military is useless if you can't take care of your people as a result.