OTTAWA — Achieving Canada’s long-term goal for defence spending would add $63 billion to the federal budget deficit by 2035 — almost double this year’s projected shortfall, Parliament’s budget watchdog says, suggesting the military rearmament drive will add pressure to the government’s currently “sustainable” fiscal blueprint.
The estimate was included in a series of reports published Monday by Parliamentary Budget Officer Annette Ryan that highlight a lack of detail on major initiatives following the Liberal government’s spring economic update last week. While the PBO concluded that current and growing debt levels are sustainable in the long term, the government hasn’t yet included all of the promised cash for defence in its spending projections, according to one of Monday’s reports.
