| Publication |
2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
For almost a decade, the Canadian military enjoyed substantial, sustained increases to its budget. This funding increase enabled the repeated deployment of the Canadian Forces abroad in the pursuit of international influence. This prominent role for the military in Canadian foreign policy is slated to change, however, as a shift to austerity is forcing significant cuts to Canadian defence spending. Despite official claims that these reductions will be made through back-office efficiency reforms, the magnitude of the budgetary losses and the manner in which they are structured mean that they will result in a significant reduction in military capacity. While front-line military capabilities will be retained, the operational readiness of these forces will be reduced significantly. As a result, the military will be unable to play the relatively active role in expeditionary operations it has in recent years, and Canada returns to a more realistic level of military activity for a secondary power.
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