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With Prime Minister Stephen Harper defending his government’s record on military spending amid pressure from some NATO allies to do more, the Citizen takes a closer look at the numbers and what they mean.

$19 billion: Canadian defence spending last year.

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$16.1 billion: Canadian defence spending last year, when adjusted for inflation to 2005 figures.

$16 billion: Canadian defence spending in 2005, the year before the Conservatives came to power.

1 per cent: Amount of Canada’s gross domestic product spent on defence last year. This is the number that analysts and allies look at closest as a way to compare between different NATO members and different points in time.

1.1 per cent: Average amount of Canada’s GDP spent on defence annually between 2000 and 2004. This is during the height of the so-called “decade of darkness” under previous Liberal governments.

1.8 per cent: Average amount of Canada’s GDP spent on defence annually between 1990 and 1994. This is during the tail end of the Cold War.