Slashes to reach $2.7 billion by 2015
Throughout the Russia/Ukraine conflict, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been one of the most vocal political leaders in speaking out against Russia’s actions. However, figures released in early September suggest that Canada’s National Defence budget will continue to face reductions, to shrink by a total of $2.7 billion dollars, in comparison with the operating budget of 2011, by the end of 2015.
These budget cuts continue in the face of the pressure Harper faces from other NATO leaders to spend significantly more on military and defence. This issue – of how much each NATO-allied country shells out for its defence and military budget – was surely one of several major concerns covered when NATO leaders met in Wales on Sept. 4 and 5.
Canada faces heat to increase its defence budget incrementally over the next 10 years to reach the NATO benchmark – spending two per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) on the military. Canada currently spends only one per cent off GDP on their military and defence, putting the Harper government only slightly ahead of smaller European countries, like Hungary and Latvia, and the financially-unstable Spain.
Larger European countries, such as Italy, Germany, Norway, and France, surpass Canada’s allotment, but only two nations surpass the NATO benchmark — the U.S. and Britain. Some struggling NATO-allied countries have halted previously planned cuts in light of recent Russian military action in eastern Ukraine in late August.
Harper, despite the defence slashes Canada faces, has been quite vocal on his thoughts of the last eight months in eastern Europe.
“When a major power acts in a way that is so clearly aggressive, militaristic, and imperialistic, this represents a significant threat to the peace and stability of the world and it’s time we all recognized the depth and the seriousness of that threat,” Harper said at a photo-op in mid-April, going so far as to conclude that “peace and stability is being threatened here in a way that has not been threatened since the end of the Cold War.”
While some believe that Canada is prepared to increase the defence budget and comply with NATO pressures, others are less confident, as meeting the NATO benchmark would require the Harper government to nearly double the military budget. The financial estimates from 2013 suggest that the Conservatives have no plans to spend much more than the approximately $18.9-billion currently allotted for defence.
Dave Perry, an analyst with the Conference of Defence Associations, argues that spending more won’t necessarily lead to a more effective military – particularly since Canada’s defence has already demonstrated a high degree of efficiency under its current operating budget.
However, conflicting messages come from Defence Minister Rob Nicholson’s parliamentary secretary, James Bezan, who has publicly spoken out in the past, suggesting that Canada should indeed be spending at least 1.7 per cent of GDP on defence.