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Canada’s generals shouldn’t be cheerleaders for governments who consistently fail to live up to their defence responsibilities, a new report from the Senate concludes.

The report, released Thursday by the Senate’s defence committee, determined that Canada’s military spending is now 0.88 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, falling far short of NATO’s target of 2 per cent.

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The Liberal government’s new budget will also delay hundreds of millions of dollars of proposed spending.

But Canada’s top soldier, Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jon Vance, has defended the government’s decision, stating the military has more than enough money.

There was no point in providing billions of dollars more, Vance said, when the Defence Department and military don’t have the ability to spend it.

The senators appear to take aim at Vance with some of the report’s conclusions.

When it comes to providing leadership, military commanders should not serve as cheerleaders for the government

“When it comes to providing leadership, military commanders should not serve as cheerleaders for the government,” the senators wrote.