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It’s not much of a surprise that defence and security issues aren’t a factor in this federal election.

Despite the concerns of various commentators and analysts, the political parties can safely ignore those topics.

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Even though billions of dollars are to be spent on the future purchase of military equipment, and Canada is engaged in training missions in Ukraine, Latvia and Iraq, the average Canadian doesn’t appear to care all that much about such topics.

That doesn’t mean that such a viewpoint is right. But it’s typical of recent elections.

The parties have touched briefly on defence and security in their platforms.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has noted he would improve relations with the U.S. and join the U.S. missile defence program. His government would buy new submarines and improve Arctic sovereignty. The Conservatives haven’t discussed what it would cost to join the American missile defence system and there is no price tag for new submarines designed to operate in the Arctic. The subs, in particular, could be costly. In 2016 Australia announced its program to acquire 12 new subs with a price tag of $50 billion.