Justin Trudeau hints at boosting Canada’s military spending

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[Brad Sallows]

I’m an army guy and I actually agree with you.

Add me to the list. The state of the navy matters more to me than the state of the army. Ships take a lot longer to put together than tanks, and command of the sea matters more pretty much everywhere except a land war in Asia, to which we might contribute but only a trivial amount compared to others.

 

[Quirky]

Big difference between growing up in Cold Lake vs being moved there.

Places like cold lake are a hit or miss, it really depends on your interests and personality. A monetary incentive however, would go a long way.

 

[dimsum]

I certainly didn’t expect that

Get rid of CJOC and have the Fleets, Wings, and Divisions (2 at max) as the force employers.

Granted, I don’t know enough about CJOC as well as I should (and the folks from the tactical levels seem to hate it), but from an operational/strategic view, not having a joint operations centre for CAF units around the world seems a bit short-sighted.

Also, eliminating CJOC would just push the work to the Division(s), so I’m not sure the numbers of people would change that much aside from the leadership.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Some of the issues arise because our force is too small relative to the number of bases we insist on having. Concentrating more functions in fewer bases would reduce movements.

 

[dimsum]

If the RCAF wants to consolidate everything into a place so people don’t move when going to a school or another unit (there will always be postings to Ottawa), then where would be the most obvious location…

 

[markppcli]

Granted, I don’t know enough about CJOC as well as I should (and the folks from the tactical levels seem to hate it), but from an operational/strategic view, not having a joint operations centre for CAF units around the world seems a bit short-sighted.

Also, eliminating CJOC would just push the work to the Division(s), so I’m not sure the numbers of people would change that much aside from the leadership.

Yeah I suppose fair enough. I suppose we’d have to expand the divisions to actual HQs vs regional force generators. At that point it’s rearranging deck chairs.

 

[TacticalTea]

OK, so what is the 3rd COA?

We can’t magically make Canada smaller, and assuming that Canadians want SAR capability within 20 days of the call, we can’t move everyone into one place and then not send them out on TDs.

Actually...

looks at Alberta and Quebec

 

[Good2Golf]

If the RCAF wants to consolidate everything into a place so people don’t move when going to a school or another unit (there will always be postings to Ottawa), then where would be the most obvious location…

CFS Bermuda

 

[MilEME09]

CFS Bermuda

RCAF suddenly pushes to annex the Turks & Caicos

 

[Good2Golf]

I’d hit that too!

 

[FJAG]

Accounting for inflation the actual real gain to the Defence Budget has been ZERO.

Inflation from 2014 to 2024 took $100 to $128.59 which would take $17B to be $21.9B. That makes the current budget a real increase of $5B over and above inflation.

 

[Navy_Pete]

Inflation from 2014 to 2024 took $100 to $128.59 which would take $17B to be $21.9B. That makes the current budget a real increase of $5B over and above inflation.

In real terms though they are rolling a lot of money that only goes towards future capabilities for projects that starting in 2008, and have cut actual in service funding by about $1B to maintain the same equipment that was 10 years older than in 2024 where maintenance and repair costs have gone up by far more than inflation.

Funding levels relative to demand/need is lower than it was in 2014.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

In real terms though they are rolling a lot of money that only goes towards future capabilities for projects that starting in 2008, and have cut actual in service funding by about $1B to maintain the same equipment that was 10 years older than in 2024 where maintenance and repair costs have gone up by far more than inflation.

Funding levels relative to demand/need is lower than it was in 2014.

That's why pure CPI comparisons re: inflation aren't useful.

Defence inflation is way more costly than consumer inflation.

 

[Navy_Pete]

That's why pure CPI comparisons re: inflation aren't useful.

Defence inflation is way more costly than consumer inflation.

Some of our parts have gone up about 10 times in price, but it's also the lead time.

But on top of that there are a lot of things that are obsolete and past the end of life that are just insanely LOE and resource intensive to maintain. We are re-engineering things to fabricate replacements because figuring out a new part can take years.

 

[Kirkhill]

That's why pure CPI comparisons re: inflation aren't useful.

Defence inflation is way more costly than consumer inflation.

So stop playing silly buggers and trying to recreate the 19th century economy that supported those 20th century weapons. We don't have foundries. We do have lots of carbon and silicon and things that go bang.

Do the other thing. Figure out how to kill the buggers cheaply with what we have.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Inflation from 2014 to 2024 took $100 to $128.59 which would take $17B to be $21.9B. That makes the current budget a real increase of $5B over and above inflation.

Have to look at spending (actual), not budgets (aspirations). There's usually a couple of years lag before any figures become available, and corrections/adjustments can go on for years.

 

[Dana381]

Inflation from 2014 to 2024 took $100 to $128.59 which would take $17B to be $21.9B. That makes the current budget a real increase of $5B over and above inflation.

Governments have been playing with the inflation and CPI formulas to make inflation not look so bad. It depends on who you believe but some websites are saying actual inflation using legacy formulas is much higher than what is being reported.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Opinion: Canada is no longer one of the richest nations on Earth. Country after country is passing us by

We are in a growth crisis – at the very moment we most need growth to pick up, it has all but petered out

www.theglobeandmail.com

Anyone who thinks relief is on the way isn't following the trends.

 

[RangerRay]

Opinion: Canada is no longer one of the richest nations on Earth. Country after country is passing us by

We are in a growth crisis – at the very moment we most need growth to pick up, it has all but petered out

www.theglobeandmail.com

Anyone who thinks relief is on the way isn't following the trends.

Interesting to see on the graph when the drop in per capita GDP was briefly arrested and when it resumed…

 

[Good2Golf]

Opinion: Canada is no longer one of the richest nations on Earth. Country after country is passing us by

We are in a growth crisis – at the very moment we most need growth to pick up, it has all but petered out

www.theglobeandmail.com

Anyone who thinks relief is on the way isn't following the trends.

The decline in GFCF in a steadily worsening, dare one say caustic business environment, brings to bear the argument between modest taxation levels on business and modest social support, to increased taxation on business while transferring that tax revenue to extensive/over-modest social spending (which does not directly support the nation’s productivity).

The alarming deterioration in our productivity performance closely tracks the extraordinary relative decline of business investment in Canada.

Until government appreciates that policies that restrict (strangle?) business investment is an analogue of strangling the goose that used to lay golden eggs. The goose isn’t dead *yet, but the golden eggs are getting smaller…and smaller…and smaller…