Huron Expositor, 2017-03-29, Page 44 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, March 29, 2017
�a'� Expositor Kilford: Total budget not only measure of military
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Chris Kilford
Now that the 2017 fed-
eral budget has been
released, it's clear the
Canadian government has
bravely determined not to
heed Donald Trump's call for
NATO partners to spend more
on defence. One can imagine
that other NATO countries,
facing similar financial chal-
lenges to Canada, are now
waiting to see what reaction, if
any, will be forthcoming from
Washington.
Of course, with the recent
release of the NATO Secre-
tary General's 2016 Annual
Report, it's clear to see why
the United States is fed up
with most of its NATO allies,
whom it accuses of spending
far too little on defence.
When NATO members re -
pledged, at the 2014 NATO
Summit in Wales in 2014, to
reach a defence spending
target of two -per -cent of GDP
by 2024, very few took the
pledge seriously.
Then again, as Craig Stone
recently noted in a Canadian
Global Affairs Institute report,
"how much a nation spends
on its armed forces as a per-
centage of GDP is not a good
measure for determining
actual military capability:'
Some NATO countries, for
example, spend huge amounts
on salaries and pensions with
little left over for arms, ammu-
nition and training. That's one
reason NATO members also
pledged in 2014 to spend a
mir'mum of 20 per cent of
their defence budgets acquir-
ing major new equipment.
According to NATO esti-
mates, Canada spent about
$20.6 billion on defence in
2016 with approximately 46
per cent going towards per-
sonnel costs, 18 per cent for
equipment, five per cent for
infrastructure upkeep and the
rest on such items as opera-
tions, training and mainte-
nance. Overall, it's not a bad
record although our defence
spending has remained fixed
at around one per cent of
GDP for several years and,
given the latest budget, that's
not about to change.
But other NATO countries
have much to answer for when
it comes to how their defence
budgets are distributed. NATO
estimates show that 77 per
cent of Belgium's defence
budget went to personnel
costs in 2016 and only 4.6 per
cent for equipment. Portugal
spent 78 per cent of its defence
budget on personnel costs,
Slovenia 76 per cent, Greece
70 per cent and Italy 69 per
cent. The result is people in
uniform but often with aging
equipment, no money for
training and the potential for a
very leaky roof overhead.
Elsewhere, Turkey spent an
estimated 1.69 per cent of its
GDP on inemc.,�n
GI)P on defence 2016 and
fielded an impressive 380,000
troops. But a good deal of that
combat power was simply not
available for NATO's use
because much of the army and
air force remained focused on
combatting the Kurdish PKK
in "Turkey's southeast.
While the NATO defence
spending debate will no doubt
continue, at the same time the
United States needs a gentle
reminder that the alliance is
not the one-way street the U.S.
routinely makes it out to be.
For example, in return for
Washington's defensive
umbrella, many NATO allies
have provided troops in sup-
port of American -led post -
Cold War interventions in
such places as Afghanistan,
Iraq and Libya. As a conse-
quence, countriesuch as
Germany, Greece, Maly and
Turkey are now responsible for
millions of refugees. Yet soon
after assuming office,
President was�wck�o
President Trump quick to
slash the number of refugees
the United States will take in
this year from a planned
.110,000 to just 50,000.
The point is that burden -
sharing among NATO mem-
bers is more than just spend-
ing two per cent of GDP on
defence. Besides, as Stone
importantly notes, "Canada's
military is far more capable
than those of other nations
that spend much more on
defence as a percentage of
GDP.' Of course, Canada
should never rest on its mili-
tary laurels; it would not be in
our national interest to do so.
But we, like many of our NATO
allies, are simply not in a posi-
tion to spend two per cent of
GDP on defence for the fore-
seeable future, if ever.
Chris Kilford is a fellow at
the Queen's Centre for Inter-
national and Defence Policy.
He is a former Canadian
defence attache to Turkey.
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