Defence update leaves big questions

Policies took two years to create, with very little pledged funding coming over the next five years

- TONDA MACCHARLES AND ALEX BALLINGALL

Defence Minister Bill Blair said Canada will "need" to put more money forward to buy submarines. "Whatever form that might take, that's going to easily take us beyond two per cent" of GDP, he said.

The Liberals’ latest national defence plan was a full two years in the works, yet leaves major questions unanswered about what Canada’s military will look like in coming years.

The defence policy unveiled by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a cadre of top cabinet ministers this week was pegged as an “update.” But as the years ticked by after it was first promised in Budget 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, expectations grew that it would be a definitive plan for how to replenish and rearm the Canadian Armed Forces, which is saddled with critical staffing shortages and aging equipment.

When it landed, the plan promised big — $8 billion in new spending over the next five years and $73 billion over a 20-year horizon — without delivering specifics on a whole lot of issues: What kind of submarine fleet does Ottawa want to buy, and for how much? What kind of integrated air and missile defence capabilities? What kind of Arctic all-terrain vehicles? What kind of ships to allow sea helicopters to land? What kind of ground-based air defence systems? What kind of long-range air- and sea-launched missiles? What kind of new tanks and Light Armoured Vehicle fleets? What kind of strike drones and counter-drones is the military looking at?

Those are all on the to-do list.

Some items have price tags attached and commitments to spend: a new base of cyber operations is the biggest in the short term, at $917 million over five years. New tactical helicopters is the biggest in the long run, at $18 billion over 20 years.

Much of the rest is unclear.