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Stuffy old farts, all of 'em ... even the young ones 
4 August 2023
Toronto, ON, August 4, 2023 – With the recent NATO summit in Vilnius all wrapped up, Canada’s Armed Forces and the current geopolitical tensions are on the front burner for the moment. However, over half of Canadians (56%) consider their armed forces old and antiquated, according to a recent Ipsos poll conducted for Global News.
Prime Minister Trudeau and his government cut military spending in the 2023 budget. However, Canadians disagree with him about the direction of military spending. Three-quarters (75%) of Canadian’s believe that Canada should increase its defense spending to ensure it can protect Canadian territory and sovereignty, while seven in ten (71%) want that increased spending to allow the Canadian Forces to contribute to global peace and stability. Overall, half of Canadians think the military is adequately funded to defend Canada’s interests at home (51%) and abroad (50%). Though half believe it is adequately funded, seven in ten (69%) feel that the modernization of Canada’s military is held back by mismanagement and political interference.
There are a number of reasons why Canadians are concerned about their military’s current state of readiness. Seven in ten Canadians feel that their concerns about defending Canada are directly related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (71%) and China’s recent actions in the Taiwan Strait (69%). While the former dominated the Vilnius summit with NATO pledging more support to Ukraine and acknowledging Russia as the most significant and direct threat to NATO, China’s growing presence as a strategic threat also made the summit’s communique. Combined with Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and the American Department of Defense’s 2022 Strategic Review both highlighting the threat of China, it is clear that Canada and it’s allies are moving to solidify their defenses. Canadians don’t just want to rely on their allies though as they aren’t supportive of leaving the nation’s defense up to the United States with 78% disagreeing with the sentiment. Instead, Canadians appear to want their country to take on a bigger role in the current escalating geopolitical tensions and to shore up its own defenses.
Increasingly, Canadians are viewing the Artic as a key area of interest for monitoring and defending. Over eight in ten (83%) Canadians want Canada’s military to monitor all who sail through the Northwest Passage, which passes through Canadian territorial waters. Canadians are also in favour of an increased presence in the North with 73% agreeing that more military bases should be built in the far North to protect Canada’s Arctic territories and half (51%) in favour of Canada acquiring nuclear submarines to defend the region.
More Than Half (56%) of Canadians Consider Canada’s Armed Forces to be Old and Antiquated
Three-quarters (75%) think Canada should increase its military spending, but six in ten (59%) still consider them among the best in the world.4 August 2023
Toronto, ON, August 4, 2023 – With the recent NATO summit in Vilnius all wrapped up, Canada’s Armed Forces and the current geopolitical tensions are on the front burner for the moment. However, over half of Canadians (56%) consider their armed forces old and antiquated, according to a recent Ipsos poll conducted for Global News.
Prime Minister Trudeau and his government cut military spending in the 2023 budget. However, Canadians disagree with him about the direction of military spending. Three-quarters (75%) of Canadian’s believe that Canada should increase its defense spending to ensure it can protect Canadian territory and sovereignty, while seven in ten (71%) want that increased spending to allow the Canadian Forces to contribute to global peace and stability. Overall, half of Canadians think the military is adequately funded to defend Canada’s interests at home (51%) and abroad (50%). Though half believe it is adequately funded, seven in ten (69%) feel that the modernization of Canada’s military is held back by mismanagement and political interference.
There are a number of reasons why Canadians are concerned about their military’s current state of readiness. Seven in ten Canadians feel that their concerns about defending Canada are directly related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (71%) and China’s recent actions in the Taiwan Strait (69%). While the former dominated the Vilnius summit with NATO pledging more support to Ukraine and acknowledging Russia as the most significant and direct threat to NATO, China’s growing presence as a strategic threat also made the summit’s communique. Combined with Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and the American Department of Defense’s 2022 Strategic Review both highlighting the threat of China, it is clear that Canada and it’s allies are moving to solidify their defenses. Canadians don’t just want to rely on their allies though as they aren’t supportive of leaving the nation’s defense up to the United States with 78% disagreeing with the sentiment. Instead, Canadians appear to want their country to take on a bigger role in the current escalating geopolitical tensions and to shore up its own defenses.
Canadians Feel Strongly About Monitoring and Defending the Arctic
One area where Canadians believe the military should play a larger role is in the Artic. The far north is rapidly becoming a new frontier of the current East-West tensions as newly opened shipping routes from melting ice packs and increased demand for the region’s natural resources draw more traffic. The threat from Russia in the Artic has loomed large since the Cold War, but China’s declaration of itself as a near Arctic state adds new fuel to the fire.Increasingly, Canadians are viewing the Artic as a key area of interest for monitoring and defending. Over eight in ten (83%) Canadians want Canada’s military to monitor all who sail through the Northwest Passage, which passes through Canadian territorial waters. Canadians are also in favour of an increased presence in the North with 73% agreeing that more military bases should be built in the far North to protect Canada’s Arctic territories and half (51%) in favour of Canada acquiring nuclear submarines to defend the region.
