Even in the face of tough economic choices, Canadians don’t want to reduce military spending in order to control the deficit when the mission in Afghanistan wraps up. This, according to a poll by Innovative Research Group conducted for the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute.
A majority of Canadians [57%] see the military as serving both a fighting and a humanitarian role for Canadian missions, while 33% believe that the military should only deploy to humanitarian missions. Only in Quebec, as it has been traditionally dating back to the second world war, were people more likely [43%] to say that the military should only deploy for humanitarian purposes.
For military spending, only 17% of Canadians think we already spend too much on Defence. 35% say we spend too little on our Armed Forces, while an almost equal amount [34%] think we’re spending the right amount as is. Again, the contrasts in Canada are based in Quebec and Alberta, with the former are most likely to oppose increased spending, and the latter most in support.
When contrasting our military spending to the current fiscal deficit, 41% said we should reduce military spending when the Afghan mission is over, but 48% said we should look in other areas to find cuts. There was very little support for maintaining military spending only for home defence, leaving international missions to other nations.
46% of Canadians said that we should acquire what is considered essential military equipment upgrades for our soldiers, with 36% supporting the withdrawal of our soldiers from combat in lieu of spending. Only 10% supported delaying equipment upgrades to fight the deficit, even if it meant putting our soldiers at risk.
For the record, the Conservative government has reversed its previous promises on military spending by announcing a slowing of the annual growth of spending to the Canadian military, saving $525 million in 2012-2013 in planned spending after troops leave Afghanistan. They will save $1 billion annually starting in 2013-2014. By 2015, $2.5 billion would be saved through reduced spending increases to the military.
