Today, the Rideau Institute released a discussion paper on the NATO Strategic Concept, suggesting that the alliance should shelve its expansion plans, avoid future “out-of-area” operations such as Afghanistan, and end its reliance upon nuclear weapons as an “essential” part of its security.
The new federal budget commits the Harper government to going ahead with its planned increases in military spending in both the coming year (fiscal year 2010-11) and the next, after which, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says, the size of planned increases in military spending will be reduced for two years. The military budget is then projected to resume the upward track promised in the Harper government’s so-called Canada First Defence Strategy.
With 200,000 people joining the Facebook group “Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament,” the report examines the reasons why people joined and why is it is important for these reasons to be understood.