How much of an increase to the defence budget does the Canada First Defence Strategy represent?
A2. The Canada First Defence Strategy establishes predictable long-term funding. It is an unprecedented commitment to the Canadian Forces and the Department of National Defence by the Government of Canada. This consistent long-term funding plan is based on the automatic annual increase in defence spending, which will rise from the current 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent, beginning in 2011-12. This automatic increase will result in an annual increase of $12 billion in 20 years, bringing the annual defence budget from its current $18 billion to $30 billion in 2027-2028. The Strategy builds on Budget 2006, which contained a critical cash infusion for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces. It is these new increased yearly budgets that will allow the government to spend $45 billion to $50 billion on major equipment purchases.
Related Questions
- If passed wouldn’t this measure make it difficult for political subdivisions to budget if they wished to increase their budgets more than their prior budget plus the CPI?
- Isn’t it true that it would take 60% to pass an increase in a government budget but only 40% to kill a worthwhile project, program or service?
- Would the tories actually increase the defence budget?
