The Bankrupting of Canada’s Military – Causes, Consequences and Remedy

The Senate Committee on National Security and Defence heard VAdm Nigel Brodeur, a member of RUSI VI, address the topic above on March 1 in Vancouver.

He said that many responsible Canadians have repeatedly warned successive governments that because of protracted under-funding, Canada’s military is seriously undermanned and inadequately equipped to meet the commitments imposed by Government. The prevalent theme in all this commentary, he said, was hand wringing.

Amply illustrated by bar graphs and historic charts, Adm Brodeur, a former deputy chief of the defence staff, concluded that Canada’s approach to defence funding is seriously flawed. He urged politicians of all parties to correct this flaw by moving defence funding out of the discretionary category by legislating a fixed formula – and without expecting public support to do so.

The preferred approach is to fix the Defence Budget at 10 percent of the federal budget. This would correspond reasonably well to the European percentage and address NATO concerns. At a cost of only three cents more on the federal dollar for Defence, he said Canada could regain the respect of our allies and trading partners. See www.rusiviccda.org/opinion – Editor

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