Spending on military belies Liberals’ commitment to daycare, environment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 19, 2021

MONTREAL, Quebec -- The Canadian Foreign Policy Institute has slammed the federal government budget for prioritizing the military over the Liberals’ stated feminist and ecological concerns.

“The Liberals committed up to $30 billion over five years to getting a national childcare program off the ground while moving forward with plans to spend $95 billion on 15 Surface Combatant vessels and 88 fighter jets”, noted Bianca Mugyenyi, Director of the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute. “The full lifecycle cost of the ships and war planes is expected to top $350 billion.”

“The Liberals like to talk about feminism, but the budget suggests they are more strongly committed to a patriarchal institution focused on US and NATO-led missions”, Mugyenyi added.

The budget allocates over 10 times more to the Department of National Defence than Environment and Climate Change Canada.

“As the climate crisis deepens, the Liberals appear to be 10 times more concerned about the military than the environment”, added Mugyenyi.

*Recently former Assistant Deputy Minister (Materiel) at DND and Assistant Deputy Minister, Supply Operations Service in Public Works and Government Services Canada, Alan Williams, concluded the full life-cycle cost of acquiring 15 Surface Combatant ships will be $286 billion.

*A recent report released by the No Fighter Jets Coalition estimates the full lifecycle cost of purchasing 88 new warplanes at $77 billion.

For more information:

Bianca Mugyenyi, Director Canadian Foreign Policy Institute

info@foreignpolicy.ca 514-436-7629