Critics attack long timelines in defence plan as military awaits a budget boost

There will be money set aside in today's federal budget for the Department of National Defence (DND) — much of it linked to the implementation of the new defence policy released with great fanfare last week by the Liberal government after more than two years of study.

It remains to be seen how quickly the funding will be rolled out, whether it will be affected by internal budget cuts and whether it can meet the needs of the military and placate Canada's anxious allies.

Skeptical Conservative MPs ripped into the defence plan Monday and demanded action over words.

"Your entire strategy, your entire policy update is aspirational," said Conservative MP Pat Kelly, who, like his colleagues, wants to see timelines. "It's full of 'exploring options.' It's full of 'reaffirming existing commitments.'"

The defence policy promises to invest an additional $8.1 billion in the military in the near-term and over $73 billion over the next two decades.

"In Canada, we do not publish our aspirations. We publish our funded plans, and this document talks about the money that we'll be committing in this upcoming budget," Defence Minister Bill Blair said in answer to the criticisms he faced from the House of Commons defence committee on Monday.

The new defence policy commits to, among other things, buying early warning aircraft to keep watch for missile attacks over the Arctic and purchasing long-range missiles for the army.

While DND is getting more money overall, the department is going through an internal budget cutting exercise to help pay for these new capabilities.

It's not clear how all of that is going to shake out.

"We don't know yet," Gen. Wayne Eyre, the country's top military commander, told CBC News on Friday. "And so last fall, we had those cuts, and the team has gone through a tremendous amount of painful work to determine where those would be applied."

Despite the additional funding, Canada is not expected to hit NATO's benchmark for alliance members' defence spending — two per cent of national gross domestic product. The new defence policy commits to lifting Canada's defence spending to 1.76 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade.

Several times since the defence strategy was released, Blair has insisted the plan moves Canada toward the NATO  goal and that additional, unspecified investments are on the way that could push the defence budget over the two per cent line.

In his interview with CBC News, Eyre said that there are spending commitments in the defence strategy that have not been included in the fiscal framework, the federal government's long-term budget.

The defence policy says DND will study options to replace the navy's submarines. Both Blair and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have said the submarines will be replaced — that it's a matter of when and how, not if.

The prime minister even went a step further and suggested nuclear-powered submarines are among the possible options — something Eyre said surprised him.

"We don't have firm direction on that," Eyre said, indicating the navy has proposed acquiring between eight and 12 conventionally-powered submarines.

"Within the military, we are not pursuing a nuclear option. However, discussions are early. As we take a look at what would be required for a nuclear capability versus what we realistically have, that is an option that I personally doubt will be further explored or further developed. That being said, we remain open to all options."

The budget is also expected to offer money for Ukraine as part of the security framework agreement signed by the two nations last winter.

Although it's separate from the defence appropriation, Canada has committed over $4 billion in military aid to Ukraine. Much of that aid is still being delivered.