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No need for military spending hike: Polaris
CTV News Staff
The Polaris Institute says it has completed a report that finds no reason to increase military spending in the next federal budget.
The report, called "Breaking Ranks: A Citizens' Review of Canada's Military Spending," says Canada already spends more than $12-billion a year on defence and should not increase that amount. Instead the Department of National Defence should spend defence dollars more wisely, the group says.
The group, which represents citizen groups, says that Canada?s military spending is already very high by international comparisons. The Defence Department's own figures show that Canada is the sixth largest military spender in NATO, and the 16th largest in the world when looking at actual dollars spent, Polaris says.
The Institute's Steven Staples says defence spending is being driven by a small, well-organized and well-funded defence lobby in Canada and the United States, while average Canadians want the federal government to focus on social programs ? not military spending.
Staples says any new money that may be earmarked for the military should be diverted to such programs as health care and education -- areas that a recent Compass poll found that most Canadians believe should be the government's top priority.
"More military spending would be throwing good money after bad. It would militarize our economy and undermine the real source of Canadians' security: our social programs," Staples says.
The report says there is plenty of evidence that the Defence Department mismanages the money it already receives. The Auditor General revealed the military wasted $174 million on a satellite communications system that has never been taken out of the box. The used submarines the Navy bought from the UK for $800 million have turned out to be lemons, and now the repair costs are climbing.
Parliamentary and Senate committees have stressed the need for more money to buy new military equipment and have recommended an additional $1.5 billion in funding per year over five years. The Romanow Commission on health care has recommended an infusion of $6.5 billion in extra funding per year. Polaris says the government's money would be best invested in health care.
"The government needs to keep the defence lobby's hands out of the cookie jar. Canadians know that our security comes through good social programs, a clean environment, and a positive role in the world - not through the barrel of a gun," Staples says.
The Polaris Institute is an organization that works with citizen activist groups "to unmask and challenge the corporate power that is the driving force behind governments concerning public policy making on economic, social and environmental issues."
No need for military spending hike: Polaris
CTV News Staff
The Polaris Institute says it has completed a report that finds no reason to increase military spending in the next federal budget.
The report, called "Breaking Ranks: A Citizens' Review of Canada's Military Spending," says Canada already spends more than $12-billion a year on defence and should not increase that amount. Instead the Department of National Defence should spend defence dollars more wisely, the group says.
The group, which represents citizen groups, says that Canada?s military spending is already very high by international comparisons. The Defence Department's own figures show that Canada is the sixth largest military spender in NATO, and the 16th largest in the world when looking at actual dollars spent, Polaris says.
The Institute's Steven Staples says defence spending is being driven by a small, well-organized and well-funded defence lobby in Canada and the United States, while average Canadians want the federal government to focus on social programs ? not military spending.
Staples says any new money that may be earmarked for the military should be diverted to such programs as health care and education -- areas that a recent Compass poll found that most Canadians believe should be the government's top priority.
"More military spending would be throwing good money after bad. It would militarize our economy and undermine the real source of Canadians' security: our social programs," Staples says.
The report says there is plenty of evidence that the Defence Department mismanages the money it already receives. The Auditor General revealed the military wasted $174 million on a satellite communications system that has never been taken out of the box. The used submarines the Navy bought from the UK for $800 million have turned out to be lemons, and now the repair costs are climbing.
Parliamentary and Senate committees have stressed the need for more money to buy new military equipment and have recommended an additional $1.5 billion in funding per year over five years. The Romanow Commission on health care has recommended an infusion of $6.5 billion in extra funding per year. Polaris says the government's money would be best invested in health care.
"The government needs to keep the defence lobby's hands out of the cookie jar. Canadians know that our security comes through good social programs, a clean environment, and a positive role in the world - not through the barrel of a gun," Staples says.
The Polaris Institute is an organization that works with citizen activist groups "to unmask and challenge the corporate power that is the driving force behind governments concerning public policy making on economic, social and environmental issues."
