What’s behind Mark Carney’s military splurge?

Front Burner

Content provided by CBC. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by CBC or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://staging.podcastplayer.com/legal.

6d ago 25:57

MP3•Episode home

For years now Canada's been badgered to pony up, and spend more money on the military. Those calls have come from our actual military itself, our NATO allies, and more recently the U.S. President.

Well it looks like Mark Carney is going to pull out the credit card, and commit to spending an extra $9.3-billion on the armed forces by March, bumping our military spending up to two per cent of Canada's entire GDP.

Carney has also pledged to end this country's reliance on the U.S. for equipment by diverting billions of dollars in spending to Canadian manufacturers.

The timing awkwardly coincided with news about an embarrassing foray into Canadian military procurement: our plans to buy a fleet of F-35 fighter jets from America that the auditor general reported was billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule.

So, what is Carney's vision for the future of our military? And how serious are the threats against Canada?

David Pugliese, defence reporter with the Ottawa Citizen, talks us through it.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

1823 episodes

#Current Affairs #Canada #CBC #News