Prime Minister Trudeau announced today that Canada will reach the target of spending 2% on defence by 2032. The CDA welcomes this announcement and salutes the ambition to fast track “explore” items outlined in the recent Defence Policy Update into costed programmes with timelines for delivery.
1) Having said this, and echoing the concerns raised recently by Parliamentary Budget Office Yves Giroux, calculating the percentage should be based on the best data we have available to project the future GDP. Unless the procurement system is scaled up to be able to actually spend the money, lapsed appropriations will continue to be a problem and we will likely get nowhere near the objectives set out.
2) It is also important to note that 2% is not a magical number. It is a pledge we made and consequently a number that our allies will measure us to. What is most important is that Canada spends in a way that is on par with other members of the alliance so that we are deemed fully engaged by our peers in burden-sharing.
3) On the short term, recent 1.7B cuts to operations and maintenance funding for the CAF are having significant negative impacts on readiness and the capacity to deploy. Ammunition stocks remain well below requirements. Unless we get to a place where procurement timelines are shortened, Canada runs the risk of finding itself with long and debilitating capability gaps between when one platform rusts out, and another becomes operational. Spending 2% on our future ability to take part in NATO missions should not eclipse the importance we accord to being ready to be there if needed today and tomorrow.
4) Ultimately, the true measure of quality defence spending should be rather on whether or not our troops have equipment that is fit for purpose, arrives on time, and is priced in a way that is comparable to what our allies are spending for equivalent capacity. Recognizing that our current procurement system is not achieving this end, it will require a thorough overhaul in order to realize the ambition the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence have set out today.
