Canadian leaders vow to be gentle in making defense-spending cuts

VICTORIA, British Columbia — The Canadian government has ordered $1.7 billion Canadian dollars ($1.3 billion) in defense-spending cuts, but it still plans to put emphasis on acquiring new equipment as well as improving North American security.

Gen. Wayne Eyre, Canada’s chief of the Defence Staff, and Bill Matthews, the deputy minister of National Defence, said in a statement issued March 4 that they hope to minimize the impact of the cuts which will take place over the next three years.

The plan is to redirect defense spending to increasing military capabilities and improving recruitment, the two noted in a message to military and department staff.

The Liberal Party government tabled in the House of Commons on Feb. 28 its spending estimates for the next several years. Those show reductions in defense spending of $810 million in 2024-2025, $851 million in 2025-2026 and $907 million in 2026-2027.

It is currently projected that Canada will spend $30 billion on defense in 2024-2025.

The cutbacks will come from infrastructure and travel budgets as well as funding used for private sector contractors. In addition, there could be money pulled back from future programs, but officials provided no details.

“We will achieve savings from activities that have a history of underspending their approved funding, and from initiatives to be delivered in future years,” Eyre and Matthews noted in their message.

Priority equipment programs and key capabilities, however, will retain their funding or could see more money in their budgets. In its Feb. 27 report titled, “Procurement of Capabilities,” the Department of National Defence noted that projects to modernize systems for NORAD will be accelerated. No specific timelines were provided in the document, but those projects include a new radar system to provide situational awareness in the Arctic for the joint U.S.-Canada alliance.

The cutbacks come at a time when Canada is facing increased pressure, particularly from the United States, to spend more on defense. In an interview aired Feb. 25 on CBC TV, David Cohen, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, acknowledged the significant funds the country has already spent on new military purchases and on Ukraine aid.

“By the same token, I have been quite clear — and the United States has been quite clear — that NATO and the world is watching what Canada is doing with respect to its commitment,” he said.

Canada is the seventh-largest spender in NATO when it comes to actual dollars. But in terms of the commitment by NATO nations to spend 2% of their GDP on defense, Canada has yet to reach that figure, currently standing at 1.3%.

To reach the alliance target Canada would have to add up to $18 billion Canadian annually to its defense budget.

In the last year Canada has announced $30 billion Canadian in new equipment purchases, including the acquisition of the Lockheed Martin F-35 and the Boeing P8-8A Poseidon . Canada is also buying a fleet of General Atomics MQ-9B Reapers as well as trucks.

In February, Canada announced it was spending $316 million Canadian for new air-defense and counter-drone systems as well as anti-tank missiles for its troops in Latvia as part of shoring up its NATO commitments.

David Pugliese is the Canada correspondent for Defense News.

加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省维多利亚市——加拿大政府已下令削减17亿加元（13亿美元）的国防开支，但仍计划重点采购新装备以及改善北美安全。

加拿大国防参谋长韦恩·艾尔将军和国防部副部长比尔·马修斯在3月4日发表的一份声明中表示，他们希望将未来三年内即将进行的裁员的影响降到最低。

两人在一份致军方和国防部工作人员的信息中指出，该计划旨在将国防开支重新分配给提高军事能力和改善征兵工作。

2月28日，自由党政府在下议院提交了未来几年的支出预算。预算显示，2024-2025财年国防开支将削减8.1亿美元，2025-2026财年削减8.51亿美元，2026-2027财年削减9.07亿美元。

目前预计加拿大在 2024-2025 年的国防开支将达到 300 亿美元。

此次削减将涉及基础设施和差旅预算，以及用于私营承包商的资金。此外，未来项目的资金也可能被削减，但官员们没有透露具体细节。

艾尔和马修斯在致辞中指出：“我们将通过减少以往资金使用不足的活动，以及在未来几年实施的各项举措来节省开支。”

然而，优先装备项目和关键能力将保留现有资金，甚至可能获得更多预算。加拿大国防部在其2月27日发布的题为《能力采购》的报告中指出，北美防空司令部（NORAD）系统现代化项目将加快推进。该文件并未提供具体时间表，但这些项目包括一套新的雷达系统，旨在为美加联合联盟在北极地区提供态势感知能力。

加拿大削减国防开支之际，正面临越来越大的压力，尤其是来自美国的压力，要求其增加国防开支。在2月25日加拿大广播公司（CBC）播出的一次采访中，美国驻加拿大大使戴维·科恩承认，美国已经在新的军事采购和对乌克兰的援助上投入了大量资金。

“同样地，我已经非常明确地表示——美国也已经非常明确地表示——北约和全世界都在关注加拿大在履行其承诺方面所采取的行动，”他说。

就实际支出金额而言，加拿大是北约第七大国防开支国。但就北约成员国承诺将国内生产总值2%用于国防开支而言，加拿大尚未达到这一目标，目前仅为1.3%。

为了达到联盟目标，加拿大每年必须在国防预算中增加高达 180 亿加元。

去年，加拿大宣布了价值300亿加元的新装备采购计划，其中包括购买洛克希德·马丁公司的F-35战斗机和波音公司的P8-8A“海神”反潜巡逻机。加拿大还将购买通用原子公司的MQ-9B“死神”无人机以及卡车。

今年 2 月，加拿大宣布将斥资 3.16 亿加元，为其驻拉脱维亚部队购置新的防空和反无人机系统以及反坦克导弹，以加强其对北约的承诺。

David Pugliese 是《国防新闻》的加拿大通讯员。