Department of National Defence research showed that fewer Canadians have a “high level of trust” in the Canadian Armed Forces. .The general public still has a favourable opinion of the army, navy, and air force, even though they believe there is a lot of “bad press” about them, according to Blacklock’s Reporter..“More than one in three respondents, 37%, trust the Canadian Armed Forces while an additional 40% were ‘somewhat’ trustful,” said the research Views of the Canadian Armed Forces 2022-23 Tracking Study. .“The extent to which respondents reported a high level of trust in the Forces decreased slightly from results observed in 2021 from 43% to 37%.”.When asked about the Canadian Armed Forces, people mentioned words like “defence,” “peacekeeping,” and “humanitarian help.” However, some also described them as “antiquated,” “underfunded,” and “scandal.”.“Among those who could reflect on the worst aspects of the Forces, many referred to it being underfunded and using antiquated equipment,” said Canadians’ Views. .“However, a few felt that the Forces were receiving too much funding and others referred to scandals, bad press, harassment, bullying, discrimination and abuse of power.”.The findings in the report were based on information gathered from 10 focus groups and surveys completed by 1,001 individuals across the country. The defence department paid $138,445 to the Quorus Consulting Group for this report..“Overall impressions of the Canadian Armed Forces were predominantly positive with 64% describing their opinion as at least ‘somewhat’ positive,” wrote researchers. .“When describing the biggest challenges facing the Forces, the most commonly mentioned were recruitment or retention (26%) followed by budget or funding issues (18%) and operating with outdated equipment (12%).”.Release of Canadians’ Views follows a June 6 memo that disclosed annual military recruitment fell 35% last year, from 8,069 to 5,242 volunteers. The army, navy and air force currently have 63,477 fully trained regular members, short of the targeted 68,000. The minimum strength is set at 60,500..Cabinet has committed to meeting a NATO target of spending 2% of GDP on national defence. On June 9, 2022, the Parliamentary Budget Office reported Canada’s Military Expenditure and the NATO Two Percent Spending Target estimated actual spending at 1.4%..“We’re talking about tens of billions of dollars to reach this rate,” Budget Officer Yves Giroux testified at the Commons Government Operations committee. .“Even if we add a few hundred million to this, you still have quite a significant shortfall we have to meet.”.The military budget for this year is $26.5 billion. According to a report from the Budget Office, meeting the NATO target by 2025 would require $60 billion.
Department of National Defence research showed that fewer Canadians have a “high level of trust” in the Canadian Armed Forces. .The general public still has a favourable opinion of the army, navy, and air force, even though they believe there is a lot of “bad press” about them, according to Blacklock’s Reporter..“More than one in three respondents, 37%, trust the Canadian Armed Forces while an additional 40% were ‘somewhat’ trustful,” said the research Views of the Canadian Armed Forces 2022-23 Tracking Study. .“The extent to which respondents reported a high level of trust in the Forces decreased slightly from results observed in 2021 from 43% to 37%.”.When asked about the Canadian Armed Forces, people mentioned words like “defence,” “peacekeeping,” and “humanitarian help.” However, some also described them as “antiquated,” “underfunded,” and “scandal.”.“Among those who could reflect on the worst aspects of the Forces, many referred to it being underfunded and using antiquated equipment,” said Canadians’ Views. .“However, a few felt that the Forces were receiving too much funding and others referred to scandals, bad press, harassment, bullying, discrimination and abuse of power.”.The findings in the report were based on information gathered from 10 focus groups and surveys completed by 1,001 individuals across the country. The defence department paid $138,445 to the Quorus Consulting Group for this report..“Overall impressions of the Canadian Armed Forces were predominantly positive with 64% describing their opinion as at least ‘somewhat’ positive,” wrote researchers. .“When describing the biggest challenges facing the Forces, the most commonly mentioned were recruitment or retention (26%) followed by budget or funding issues (18%) and operating with outdated equipment (12%).”.Release of Canadians’ Views follows a June 6 memo that disclosed annual military recruitment fell 35% last year, from 8,069 to 5,242 volunteers. The army, navy and air force currently have 63,477 fully trained regular members, short of the targeted 68,000. The minimum strength is set at 60,500..Cabinet has committed to meeting a NATO target of spending 2% of GDP on national defence. On June 9, 2022, the Parliamentary Budget Office reported Canada’s Military Expenditure and the NATO Two Percent Spending Target estimated actual spending at 1.4%..“We’re talking about tens of billions of dollars to reach this rate,” Budget Officer Yves Giroux testified at the Commons Government Operations committee. .“Even if we add a few hundred million to this, you still have quite a significant shortfall we have to meet.”.The military budget for this year is $26.5 billion. According to a report from the Budget Office, meeting the NATO target by 2025 would require $60 billion.
