If there is an afterlife, Pierre Trudea must be chuckling at the sight of The National Disgrace having to set right one of the rightwing's biggest lies about PET, the one that has him undermining Canada's armed forces.
Never was true. It's a complete lie. Just more rightwing slander. From NatPo itself:
Former prime minister Pierre Trudeau may still be widely reviled in the military community as a "pinko" who slashed the budget of the Canadian Forces in the '70s, but a new analysis done by Parliament's research branch ranks him as the top spender on defence in the last 37 years.
The figures, detailing the defence budget as a percentage of the country's gross domestic product, indicates Trudeau even outspent Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney, who brought in a hawkish defence policy in the late '80s.
The figures also show the Harper Conservatives, who have portrayed themselves as being strong on defence, have a long way to go to match Trudeau's levels.
The spending dipped only slightly in the first few years of Mulroney's tenure and then started dropping as cutbacks were brought in under the Conservatives.
Liberal Senator Colin Kenny said the figures show the Harper government has to start doing more in terms of military spending.
"They talk the talk but when it comes time to walk the walk they're just not there," said Kenny. "They don't even come close to the so-called pinko days of Mr. Trudeau. Mr. Harper's got a long long way to go to match that."
In terms of spending on national defence as a percentage of federal government expenditures, Trudeau again leads the pack at 13.3% in 1970.
The Defence Department has made presentations to Treasury Board which would see its budget increased from a little more than $18-billion to $36-billion by 2025.
That figure would be about 1.3% of the country's projected GDP.
By comparison, Trudeau's defence spending came in at 2% of Canada's GDP.
So what have we learned, kids? We've learned that the rightwing spreads all sorts of malicious nonsense. They just like to make stuff up as it suits them. They're kind of scummy that way.
Never was true. It's a complete lie. Just more rightwing slander. From NatPo itself:
Former prime minister Pierre Trudeau may still be widely reviled in the military community as a "pinko" who slashed the budget of the Canadian Forces in the '70s, but a new analysis done by Parliament's research branch ranks him as the top spender on defence in the last 37 years.
The figures, detailing the defence budget as a percentage of the country's gross domestic product, indicates Trudeau even outspent Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney, who brought in a hawkish defence policy in the late '80s.
The figures also show the Harper Conservatives, who have portrayed themselves as being strong on defence, have a long way to go to match Trudeau's levels.
The spending dipped only slightly in the first few years of Mulroney's tenure and then started dropping as cutbacks were brought in under the Conservatives.
Liberal Senator Colin Kenny said the figures show the Harper government has to start doing more in terms of military spending.
"They talk the talk but when it comes time to walk the walk they're just not there," said Kenny. "They don't even come close to the so-called pinko days of Mr. Trudeau. Mr. Harper's got a long long way to go to match that."
In terms of spending on national defence as a percentage of federal government expenditures, Trudeau again leads the pack at 13.3% in 1970.
The Defence Department has made presentations to Treasury Board which would see its budget increased from a little more than $18-billion to $36-billion by 2025.
That figure would be about 1.3% of the country's projected GDP.
By comparison, Trudeau's defence spending came in at 2% of Canada's GDP.
So what have we learned, kids? We've learned that the rightwing spreads all sorts of malicious nonsense. They just like to make stuff up as it suits them. They're kind of scummy that way.
6 comments:
I wouldn't go so far as to describe him as a "friend" to the military. He had a dislike for the military generally and did reduce spending when the rest of NATO was building up defences.
That said, during his tenure the CF-18 fighter/interceptor force, the Auroras, the frigate fleet and the Leopard main battle tank force were brought into service.
So, while he made life a little difficult for the military, he did understand the need to keep the military up-to-date.
Yup. The Conservatives are liars.
Dave, I have your point. I joined the air force when it was still the Royal Canadian Air Force, just as Hellyer showed up on the scene, so I agree that Trudeau wasn't entirely keen on the military. Curious, though, now that you point it out that the military today still uses the jets that the Trudeau government secured, the still fairly capable CF-18. The Leopard I's served their purpose for a couple of decades too. Second-hand but decent value for the money. The Aurora still can routinely be seen in the skies overhead here on Vancouver Island. The frigates too weren't a bad buy (although was that too done under Trudeau?). As I recall it (and correct me if I'm wrong) wasn't that era also the end of the FN?
God, for the good old days. Remember when there were shortages of nothing and all we really had to worry about was nuclear war? Those were the days.
Ha! Surprising, I have to admit. I never quite bought into the right-wing spin on this, but it's amusing to see it refuted this way.
I suppose it's another lamentable example of how the same lie told often enough becomes truth. You won't find many Canadians who don't believe Trudeau sabotaged the Canadian military. It's folklore now.
I suppose it's another lamentable example of how the same lie told often enough becomes truth.
I only fault people when they're aware that they have no way of knowing what they believe. That's the type of dishonesty Conservatives are all too willing to support. It's worse than lying.
The spinning is being done right here with this article!
It is talking about spending in the last 37 years and does not talk about spending before Trudeau came to power. If you also look at spending before Trudeau came to power you will find that he spent alot less on the military. The cuts to the military started in 1968. It is understandable he compares well to Cretien and Martin as they allowed the military to waste. As for Mulroney and Harper, they both increased military spending from a lower point that they inherited from Liberal governments and you will see the figures for Harper go up even further, if given the chance.
Trudeau's neglect of the military is supported by proper comparisons and facts.
I challenge you to rewrite your acticle and also include military spending for the years after WWII.
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