Canadian Troops are severely underfunded lacking basic supplies such as boots, munitions and modern equipment. It is putting our troops in unnecessary harm, actual quote from current soldier.

"People died from poor/improper equipment when the government had been told before hand. If people go public it will mostly be dismissed as the military being greedy. A lot of people in Canada see our military along the same lines as Americas. In that we have aircraft carriers huge armies and what not. We don't though but its a lot easier to say military spending is "bad" when you don't even know anything about your military or the budget"

The Canadian Military has been underappreciated and underfunded for decades; this has been an issue of our Federal Government throughout numerous administrations and no singular government is to blame. Despite the fact that Canada holds some of the most well respected and well trained troops in the world, our Air Force and Navy is severely underfunded and infantry equipment is in need of replacement.

This issue of underfunding our military leads to political backlog and bureaucratic disaster. Once we reach the point of upgrades and replacement being immediately necessary we are required to make a massive upfront purchase, creating a needlessly complicated deal or taking on debt. The CF-18 replacement process we are currently witnessing is a perfect example of this. Even a modest increase in annual funding would elevate this problem as gradual replacement and upgrades could take place. However, our current budget does not allow for this on the scale required.

In short it makes more sense to put away 100$ monthly for a car rather than 50$, requiring a loan to either purchase or fix it when necessary. This strategy only extends the problem by incurring debt.

Along with the mentioned economic and bureaucratic issues there are other advantages of having an increased annual military budget, both on a national and international level. Domestically, having a stronger military would allow for more efficient response and clean-up operations for national disasters such as the Fort McMurray Wildfire. Increasing military capability would also help strengthen our claims of Arctic sovereignty against others intrusions. Both of these concerns are going to become increasingly important as climate change progresses, raising the frequency of massive national disasters and the availability of resources in the Arctic.

An increased budget would also lead to job creation within the military. Occupations within the military provide numerous benefits, including disciplinary training, providing a sense of belonging, and increasing ones physical fitness. These jobs also pay incredibly well; Canadian troops are among the best paid in the world by most comparisons. Furthermore, the military is willing to pay for post-secondary education for each year served, or will provide its members with a trade while in training if university is not an interest. For a generation currently facing unemployment, massive student debt and in some cases a lack of belonging, a period of military service might be great benefit.

Internationally it would strengthen Canada’s position both within NATO and at the bargaining table. Though the age of common military conflict has ended, a nations military remains a powerful tool for diplomacy and would allow us to help spread and influence Canadian values that are held so dearly on a world scale. Despite NATO’s requirement that all members meet a 2% GDP annual budget on its Military, Canada has failed to reach this target in recent memory, leading to a severely weakened respect level and overall position within the organization.

Finally with the recent Trump Administration stating that it will no longer support “freeloading” countries in terms of defense, Canada must pick up the slack or risk diplomatic repercussions from it. Though no one wishes to admit it, Canada is one of those freeloading countries.

Increasing our annual military budget holds numerous benefits for Canada both domestically and internationally and it is time we make a change for the better and show our military the respect it deserves.

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Thank you in advance.