... and in Trenton later this week to spend some more! All together 15 Billion - Just like Xmas lol
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060626/defence_spending_060626/20060626?hub=TopStories
Tories set to announce $15B in defence spending
Updated Mon. Jun. 26 2006 8:47 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to announce the addition of two new ships to Canada's military today -- the first in $15 billion in planned military spending announcements this week.
Harper will travel to Halifax along with Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor to name the contractor that has been selected to build three new joint-support ships.
The remaining spending announcements set to be unveiled in four Canadian cities this week will include capital purchases of ships, aircrafts, helicopters and trucks to strengthen Canada's fighting forces.
The spending announcements still fall short of a Senate committee's spending recommendations as well as some of the military's own requests, but O'Connor told CTV's Canada AM it's just the first step.
"This is the first slice out of the box," O'Connor said. "The department and the government can only handle so much procurement at one time. We have other projects we want further down, maybe later this year and into the next few years. There's a lot of things to acquire, but they have to be done so the government and the companies can manage it."
He said the announcements will begin to meet the military's essential needs in the areas of "mobility, army mobility on the ground and mobility at sea" and reduce the Canadian Forces' dependency on other countries' equipment.
Most of the spending announcements were either promised by the Tories during the election campaign or were planned by the previous Liberal government.
It marks the largest single defence spending bonanza in the nation's history.
In addition to the $2 billion for the three naval support ships, the government is expected to announce $1.1 billion for new army trucks, $4.2 billion for 15 heavy-lift helicopters, and $7.5 billion for tactical and heavy-lift aircraft.