“Canadians spend $343 apiece on the most important role of any society – defending itself, and advancing its citizens’ interests abroad. The Dutch, who aren’t exactly known as warmongers, spend $658. The Australians spend $648. The British spend $903. We need to get our military spending to 2 percent of GDP (it has hovered around 1 per cent for decades) to protect our citizens at home and fulfill our military obligations abroad. Otherwise we will remain trapped in our lack of capacity when emergencies arise.”
– Senator Colin Kenny, “Canada’s Military Fix: The Illusion and the Reality” in On Track, Autumn 2006, p. 7
These NATO members also spent more on defence per capita in 2004 than Canada ($US, Canada just under $300, figures extrapolated from chart):
http://www.nato.int/docu/review/2005/issue3/graphics/contents/i3_stats_3.jpg
Italy $320
Belgium $400
Luxembourg (!?!) $500
Netherlands $510
Denmark $560
Norway $850!!!
Read 'em and weep. At least in 1990 we beat Luxembourg. We've been “cheapskates” for quite a long time.
http://www.damianpenny.com/archived/007116.html
Mark
Ottawa
Since Korea in the fifties, we've skimped on our military, trusting that the Americans would take up the slack for us. They have, partly because we stood between them and their greatest enemy. This is still partially true, but more and more, we stand between the US and what they want – access to the North, marine routes and northern resources.