Government hints at boosting Canada’s military spending

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[Maxman1]

Pentagon Review Threatens E-7A Acquisition Plan, Sources Say | Aviation Week Network

The U.S. Air Force plan to buy 26 Boeing E-7A Wedgetail aircraft faces a cancellation threat.

aviationweek.com

a boost for a Global 6500 based airframe?

 

[Czech_pivo]

Well the German's just moved the goal posts.

Foreign minister: Germany to comply with Trump's 5% defence target

US President Donald Trump has long demanded that NATO partners spend more on defence. Germany now wants to comply. #EuropeNews

www.euronews.com

Germany to comply with Trump's 5% defence spending target, foreign minister suggests​

 

[KevinB]

Well the German's just moved the goal posts.

Foreign minister: Germany to comply with Trump's 5% defence target

US President Donald Trump has long demanded that NATO partners spend more on defence. Germany now wants to comply. #EuropeNews

www.euronews.com

Germany to comply with Trump's 5% defence spending target, foreign minister suggests​

Lithuania and a few others have stated similar.

 

[Czech_pivo]

Lithuania and a few others have stated similar.

Yes but when the second largest country, that has been quasi pacifist for the last 80yrs, in NATO comes out and says ‘5%’ that kind of wakes people up

 

[Cloud Cover]

Yes but when the second largest country, that has been quasi pacifist for the last 80yrs, in NATO comes out and says ‘5%’ that kind of wakes people up

Won’t change a thing here….

 

[PrairieFella]

They're pulling the same trick everyone else on global stage has dome with Trump 2.0, tell him he's brilliant and they'll get right on it, then never mention it again and hope he sundowns. 5% would bankrupt most Western economies or force them to demolish their welfare states, I think they'd rather go bankrupt. 2.5% is plenty.

 

[KevinB]

They're pulling the same trick everyone else on global stage has dome with Trump 2.0, tell him he's brilliant and they'll get right on it, then never mention it again and hope he sundowns. 5% would bankrupt most Western economies or force them to demolish their welfare states, I think they'd rather go bankrupt. 2.5% is plenty.

When you look at the enemies aligned against the West, 5% is simply a requirement.

Or would you prefer to be forced to learn mandarin?

 

[PrairieFella]

When you look at the enemies aligned against the West, 5% is simply a requirement.

Or would you prefer to be forced to learn mandarin?

We aren't in a state of total war, levels of spending that high are completely unsustainable. You might be learning mandarin with 5% anways when the healthcare, education and public infrastructure systems collapse due to a lack of funding and people get revolutionary. Your country can't even afford 3.5% and your social safety net is already pitiful, you're the global superpower and you have the ability of printing the global reserve currency. If the USA can't meet that level, it's laughable to expect any other major economy to be able to do so as well.

Nevermind that we'll need to be learning Super Mutant before we ever need to learn Mandarin if we go to war with China.

 

[Czech_pivo]

We aren't in a state of total war, levels of spending that high are completely unsustainable. You might be learning mandarin with 5% anways when the healthcare, education and public infrastructure systems collapse due to a lack of funding and people get revolutionary. Your country can't even afford 3.5% and your social safety net is already pitiful, you're the global superpower and you have the ability of printing the global reserve currency. If the USA can't meet that level, it's laughable to expect any other major economy to be able to do so as well.

Nevermind that we'll need to be learning Super Mutant before we ever need to learn Mandarin if we go to war with China.

What's interesting to me the most about all this is that our servicing of just the interest payments on just our Federal Debt eats up just over 10% of our total revenue. So the debt interest costs at around 47$ billion are pretty much inline with the 2% CAF costs of approximately 50$ billion.

If the previous governments over the last 10yrs had did a much better job of managing our debt/deficit and if only 5-6 cents of very revenue dollar went to the debt vs 10 cents, wed have another 17-18 billion of revenue available to better fund the CAF and would have much better ability/flexibility to hit 2.25% or 2.35%

 

[PrairieFella]

What's interesting to me the most about all this is that our servicing of just the interest payments on just our Federal Debt eats up just over 10% of our total revenue. So the debt interest costs at around 47$ billion are pretty much inline with the 2% CAF costs of approximately 50$ billion.

If the previous governments over the last 10yrs had did a much better job of managing our debt/deficit and if only 5-6 cents of very revenue dollar went to the debt vs 10 cents, wed have another 17-18 billion of revenue available to better fund the CAF and would have much better ability/flexibility to hit 2.25% or 2.35%

You're not wrong. That's an actual target. 5% is pure virtue-signaling, plain and simple. It ignores the reality of society.

 

[KevinB]

You're not wrong. That's an actual target. 5% is pure virtue-signaling, plain and simple. It ignores the reality of society.

IMHO outputs are more important than an arbitrary % of GDP.
My point in original post on this is that the West needs to understand that the Russian collective does view themselves at war with us, and the sooner we address that elephant the better.

 

[Halifax Tar]

I figured this might be as good spot as any

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/military-retention-program-defunding-1.7536509

 

[daftandbarmy]

I figured this might be as good spot as any

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/military-retention-program-defunding-1.7536509

It's almost as if we've seen all this play out before....

 

[Good2Golf]

When you look at the enemies aligned against the West, 5% is simply a requirement.

Or would you prefer to be forced to learn mandarin?

When will the U.S. hit 5%?

 

[Kirkhill]

IMHO outputs are more important than an arbitrary % of GDP.
My point in original post on this is that the West needs to understand that the Russian collective does view themselves at war with us, and the sooner we address that elephant the better.

Re the 5% of GDP. It depends who is doing the accounting.

In the Arctic thread I posted these maps.




When the Nanisivik Naval Facility was proposed in 2006, concurrent with the AOPS announcement, the mine at Nanisivik had only lately been decommissioned and the community facilities were probably in salvable condition.

The Nanisivik naval facility has had a fluctuating budget and spending history. Originally estimated at $258 million, the final cost is expected to be around $116 million. As of recently, the Department of National Defence has spent approximately $107.6 million on the project, according to CTV News.

Here's a more detailed breakdown:

• Original Estimate: The project was initially approved with a budget of $258 million in 2010.
  
  
• Cost Reduction: The budget was later reduced to $116 million.
  
  
• Current Spending: The Department of National Defence has spent approximately $107.6 million to date, with the final cost expected to reach $114.6 million, according to Nunatsiaq News.
  
  
• Project Scope: The facility includes a deepwater port, jetty, fuel storage tanks, a site office, a wharf operator's shelter, a storage building, and a helicopter landing pad.
  
  
• Construction Delays: Construction was delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions, bad weather, and the main road connecting the facility to Arctic Bay being washed out.

The project had a budget of 258 million CAD in 2010 of which roughly half has been spent 15 years later. And the facility is still not active.

....

Meanwhile, on the other side of the same peninsula, opening on to the Northwest Passage and a similar sailing distance to Resolute, a new port was established to support another mine, the Baffinland Iron Mine at Mary River. That project started about the same time as the government of the day was announcing the Nanisivik Facility. The first road from Milne Inlet to the Mine was started in 2007. A financial crisis and a few government delays and the mine started shipping ore out of Milne Inlet in 2014.

The total investment in the Mary River Mine is estimated to be around $3.5 billion. Baffinland Iron Mines has invested this amount, with a portion of that being spent on the truck route. While the initial project was projected to cost $4 billion, it was scaled back, and the current investment is closer to $740 million for the original development. Additional investments have been made for expansions and other projects.

Milne Inlet was only one outlet to the sea. The preferred route was a railway to the south over permafrost that would see a port established on the Hudson Bay side of Baffin Island at Steensby Inlet.

....

So here's my thinking.

1 - Abandon Nanisivik - too much time has been spent and too little achieved
2 - Relocate the "Naval Facility" to the Milne Inlet side of the peninsula and double up on the existing facilities built to support the mine
3 - Assist the Mine (iron is a strategic commodity) and the Nunavut Government by funding the railway from the mine to Steensby Inlet (143 km at an estimated cost of 350 MCAD in 2006)
4 - Improve the road from the mine to Milne Inlet (105 km)
5 - Tie in to the two existing work camps to provide accommodation for service personnel.

The net result is that Canada gets a well supported facility at Milne Inlet and a harbour at Steensby Inlet, a short line of communication from Churchill to Baffin Island, a mine, jobs and development opportunities.

With the prospect of a Canadian version of this place on Spitsbergen. Built on a coal mine that is still operating, Longyearbyen is a town of 2000 which serves a commercial purpose, a sovereignty purpose and is the basis for scientific endeavours.




5% of GDP invested in national security? 2.5% Military. 2.5% Civilian infrastructure.

Edit: The investment would also aid in the development of Baffin Island generally as well as the local community of Pond Inlet with a population of 1500 or so.

 

[KevinB]

When will the U.S. hit 5%?

Do as I say, not as I do. Besides we carried the burden for years, and have decided to take a knee these days. Must be the bone spurs kicking in again

 

[McG]

Things to consider in our defence spending.

Readying the country to ‘defend against help’

Canada must focus on what we can do on our own without American assistance—and perhaps in opposition to Washington’s desires in the Arctic.

www.hilltimes.com