Polls show that approximately one third to two thirds of Canadians think that Canada should increase its defence spending, depending on how you phrase the question. It remains unknown how many would answer positively if asked "would you like to pay more in taxes to have higher government spending on defence?"
this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2024
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I'll answer yes. Because that's where the money comes from to fulfill our obligations. The alternative is no protection, and our nearest neighbor is about to elect an insurrectionist who may have figured out we have clean water and a negotiable border.
Now ask me about healthcare. Yes.
Ask me about managed SRO blocks with staffed nurses and training for homeless who want to get out. Yes.
Ask me about transit. Yes
Ask me about superfunding derelict derricks. No, but we arrest vandals for destroying an ecosystem and see how that pans out.
I'll never have an original thought.
Who'd you steal that idea from?
It's easy-to-get high support for spending money on defense when you frame it in a vacuum, as seen in the first poll. But opinions change quick when you ask people what they would be willing to cut to get it, as seen in the second support falls off. Ask them still how to pay for it, and would they be willing to increase their tax payment for it, and support falls still.
Trudeau is right, short of a war footing Canada will never make the aspirational, entirely not mandatory, 2% NATO spending goal. No prime minister has even tried in the decades of the goal being set.
double the carbon tax, put it all toward NATO spending. All of the lifted F150s with military-adjacent bumper stickers would probably support that, right?
How about we tax large corporations more instead of increasing taxes on people struggling to get by?
Considering they benefit the most from a stable and secure society that idea works for me. But even still, if we tax companies we must still decide where to spend it, how to prioritize, is there nothing but increased defense possible for that money.
I'm left leaning but look at the military as a jobs program. Members of our armed forces should receive a suitable wage with experiences and skilled training that will allow them to find skilled employment after their service. So ya dump a little more money but we don't need battleships or money pits. Best infantry in the world, quality over quantity doctrine.