The Defence Department has commenced a public relations campaign to sell the Canadian public on the Harper government’s decision to buy the F-35 fighter (Steven Chase, “PR blitz aims to sell “skeptical public” on need for F-35 fighter jets“, Globe and Mail, 24 November 2010). Roundtables targeting opinion leaders in academia and industry are being held in […]
Tag Archives: Military spending
New poll shows Canadians committed to peacekeeping
A new Nanos research poll conducted for the Globe and Mail indicates that Canadians think peacekeeping is more important than combat missions (Campbell Clark, ”Canadians pick peacekeeping over combat,” Globe and Mail, 25 October 2010). According to the poll, Canadians are strongly opposed to sending troops on any future missions reminiscent of Canada’s role in […]
Ceasefire.ca speaks out against Tory "Flying Cadillacs" deal
Quoted in the Canadian Press, Staples argued that, “These are ‘Flying Cadillacs’ that are not needed for the defence of Canada, and are unaffordable. The government should wait until national finances are in better shape, and use resources for other priorities, such as fixed wing search and rescue.”
Navy faces budget crunch?
Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Vice-Admiral Dean McFadden, the commander of the Canadian Navy, are contradicting each other on the state of the Navy’s budget (David Pugliese, “Cash-strapped navy being cut to bone, analysts say,” Montreal Gazette, 12 May 2010; see also David Pugliese, “MacKay says no decision made on fleet reductions; Admiral and sailors […]
Hard power, fuzzy logic
Prime Minister Stephen Harper used the occasion of a visit to Canada’s aid efforts in Haiti on Tuesday to praise the virtues of his government’s spending on “hard power” items like the C-17 transport aircraft: “This fleet of new aircraft, the C-17 fleet, is a big part of making this response possible. I single out […]
Army "readjusts" reserve budget
The Canadian Army has reallocated $5 million to pay for Reserve training that it cancelled earlier this year as a cost-cutting measure. In a press release last week (“Class A Reserves receive $5 million for training,” 3 February 2010), Army commander Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie acknowledged that “Obviously the situation is not ideal, as this funding […]