canada, like every country, has hawks. but, the reason that even harper has to watch his military budget is that it's an electoral liability, in a broader sense. you can present as many sober analyses and pleas to the alliance as you want, in the end it's as toxic as a tax increase - which is exactly how most canadians will interpret it. if these are your priorities, you're going to have to actually win the argument first, and that's going to be a difficult task.

i would prefer to find ways to disengage from foreign zones of conflict and refocus resources on direct defense initiatives, like norad and better integration in the coast guard. and, to go back to a structural deadweight on the system with wider implications than the media is acknowledging, i think easing prohibition on marijuana will open up a lot of resources on the border.

i'd rather invest in dykes to fight rising sea levels than guns to fight supposed bad guys and control foreign resources.

www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-election-2015-defence-spending-brian-stewart-1.3242611