A few weeks ago, when Donald Trump blathered on about letting Russia invade any NATO country not carrying its weight on military spending, he may have lacked a certain polish and decorum. Yet it’s hard to deny his logic.
A commitment is a commitment. And as most Canadians are becoming awkwardly aware, we are one of the worst laggards in the NATO club on this measure. For Canada to reach its NATO commitment of 2 per cent of GDP spent on the military it would require, roughly, $18-billion in addition to the $30-billion each year we spend on defence. (The figures are approximate and vary depending who you ask, and what you consider “military spending.”)
But how do we find an additional $18-billion? There’re not many sofa cushions to look under.
How could the author miss this?
Federal government business subsidies are huge. And mostly wasteful
Restructuring or eliminating ineffective subsidies could easily save $25 billion a year
