Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday June 13, 2017
More muscle in our military
The world has changed profoundly since Justin Trudeau became Canada’s prime minister just over a year and a half ago.
May 26, 2017
Last week, Trudeau’s Liberal government profoundly changed how Canada will defend its interests in this world.
On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland boldly declared that Canada will blaze its own trail through the international landscape because this country can no longer depend on the United States to lead.
On Wednesday, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan committed the government to $62 billion in new military spending over the next 20 years to guide and protect Canada on that pathway.
February 9, 2016
There will be 15 new warships and 88 new fighter jets — more planes than originally planned — for our armed forces.
There will be 5,000 more regular and reserve personnel, plus a defence budget that will rise from the current $18.9 billion a year to $32.7 billion a year by 2027 — a substantial 73-per-cent increase.
This is a dramatic and timely shift for the government and one Canadians can welcome.
It’s also a notable pivot for Trudeau who, in the early days of government, preferred foreign aid over boots on the ground as a problem-solver.
Trudeau’s flower power is morphing into Freeland’s and Sajjan’s hard power. (Source: KW Record)