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From a vision perspective, the 2016 defence policy review won’t likely result in any great shift away from its two immediate predecessors.

The fact is that the roles assigned to the military have remained much the same for decades: defend Canada, defend North America in partnership with the United States, and contribute to international peace and security through organizations such as NATO and the UN.

Each generation, of course, tends to believe it lives in special times, but that’s seldom the case. In the 1964 Defence White Paper, nuclear proliferation, limited wars, political upheaval, terrorist activities and “revolutionary developments in military technology” were all on the daily agenda in Ottawa, much as they are today.

In difficult financial times, however, a defence review is enough to send shivers up and down military spines. The assumption is that it’s really a cost-cutting exercise and that’s often been the case. Of course, a defence review is not all about money. An opportunity also exists to start and stop particular activities, shift resources to higher priorities, eliminate redundancies and ideally strengthen the organization.

Currently, we devote about $20 billion or one per cent of our GDP to defence, and many Canadians would probably be surprised to know that we are among the top 15 to 20 defence spenders in the world. Twenty billion dollars is a significant amount, and it’s hard to imagine ever spending two per cent of our GDP on defence as pledged during the 2014 NATO summit. Especially, when there are so many other pressing demands.