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Stronach proposes $1-billion boost to defence
By ALLISON DUNFIELD
Globe and Mail Update with Canadian Press
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Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidate Belinda Stronach vowed to boost military spending by $1-billion each year over the next decade until it reaches 2 per cent of Canada‘s gross domestic product.
"The Canadian military has been plagued by years of under-funding and spending cuts," she said in a statement Tuesday.
"While Paul Martin was finance minister, military spending was cut from $12-billion in 1993-94 to $9.3-billion in 1998-99, a decrease of over 20 per cent."
In last year‘s budget, Ottawa raised defence funding to $13-billion a year.
Ms. Stronach said she would find the extra money through the federal government‘s existing surplus and by reducing the costs of government through unspecified cuts.
The Conservative candidate was in Halifax Tuesday promoting her leadership campaign.
She said that Canada has lost its place in the world. The country no longer has the muscle to live up to its international obligations, she said.
She also said she wants to repair what she sees as Canada‘s damaged relationship with the United States.
"Canada‘s economic livelihood depends on an open and secure Canada-United States border," she said.
Ms. Stronach said two million Canadian jobs rely on the free flow of goods across the Canada-U.S. border.
"I think we need to look at strengthening our relationship with the United States which has deteriorated over the years. It is our great neighbour to the south," Ms. Stronach said in a later interview with CBC Newsworld.
She also called for a review into Canada‘s foreign policy if she is elected the next prime minister.
"We haven‘t had a foreign affairs review in Parliament for over 10 years and I think it‘s time we did that. The world is changing so rapidly and Canadians should have greater input into what our foreign affairs policy should be," Ms. Stronach told Newsworld on Tuesday.
Ms. Stronach along with the other two Conservative leadership candidates, Tony Clement and Stephen Harper, have less than a month to go until the leadership vote, on March 20.
All three camps are trying to secure their votes in the race.
Since the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives merged to create the Conservative Party of Canada, 110,000 new memberships have been sold.
Conservative sources also believe that Mr. Harper has the core support of the original membership of the party â †about 90,000 of 142,000. Ms. Stronach would have to have signed up at least 50,000 to at least 100,000 to tip the balance in her favour.
Over the weekend, her camp dropped off about 34,000 new memberships but her supporters deny they are in trouble.
Mr. Clement, meanwhile, has said he believes he has sold at least 20,000 memberships and another 30,000 through nomination meetings.
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Well, isn‘t this interesting.