Essay Sample about Canadian Military

The military is a service funded by the government that almost every country has. Canada tries to use its military for peacekeeping missions, such as their operations in Afghanistan. Canada has one of the best military forces in the world but is still a young country and doesn’t have very many people. If the government were to significantly increase their funding on the military, it would provide more resources making their peacekeeping missions more efficient and effective. 

Currently Canada’s military is ranked 21st in the world and while it’s very small, consisting of approximately one hundred thousand regular and reserved force soldiers, it’s still very effective. On average, Canada gives nineteen billion dollars to the military and gives 162.92 billion dollars into economic affairs annually. At least one fifth of this money could go elsewhere such as the military, increasing Canada’s national defense, peacekeeping operation effectiveness, and resources used for training and on field combat. In comparison, the United States military is ranked 1st in the world and they have approximately one million four hundred thousand soldiers. According to The Business Insider, the United States has eight thousand eight hundred and forty-eight tanks, thirteen thousand eight hundred and ninety-two aircrafts, and seventy-two submarines. Canada has one hundred and eighteen tanks, four hundred and twenty aircrafts, and four submarines. The United States obviously has a lot more soldiers and equipment than Canada and this is because of how much they fund their military. The United States spends about six hundred billion dollars a year on their military. Canada has also been a part of the NATO alliance since 1949 and one of the guidelines for the countries in NATO as of 2014 is that they must fund at least two percent of their GDP on military to ensure that they can defend themselves or another NATO member from a threat. Canada currently spends approximately 1.4 percent, which does not meet up to the agreement that Canada has agreed to. Canada is not really an independent country; we still rely on the US and British Empire for protection from other countries. 

Increasing the military budget would take away funds from other services such as hospitals, emergency services, welfare, etc. Canada is still unpopulated, meaning there are not many people that could join the military to put the extra funding to use. The people of Canada barely acknowledge the military because it’s quite dormant. As with any military, the Canadian military has also been found to have caused some harm. In the 1990, in Somalia Canadian soldiers had tortured a teenager and gunned a man to pieces. Reports have shown that there have been many sexual assaults and offenses by soldiers within the military. Reports have shown that white supremacy groups that have planned to join the military, to learn combative skills for use in terrorism, have in fact joined. The Canadian military has done a lot of racist, unforgiving, and unhumanitarian things in the last century. If the Canadian Government were to increase military funding, they would have more soldiers and more equipment that could be used to commit more of these unrightful acts. 

Having a well built economy is one of the most important principles in making a country prestigious. It allows a country to purchase resources that it cannot make, such as metals, minerals, oil, wood, or even prebuilt items like technology, weapons, etc. If the Canadian government were to integrate a buy from Canada policy for it’s military funding, it would strengthen the economy by allowing Canadian owned companies to have a greater demand and increase their profits whilst keeping the funded money in Canada and not giving it to other countries. The equipment would only or mostly be manufactured in Canada making sure that the quality of these products meet the standards of the military. If one of these companies were to create a new sophisticated way of making it’s product Canada would now have a better weapon than other countries to show national prestige or sell it to other countries and improve the economy. In the end if this policy were to be used for the funding of the Canadian military it would increase the economy, keep money in Canada, and supply the military with better quality equipment. 

If the Government of Canada were to increase funding for their military they would be more independent, have more ability to protect their country from invasion, and increase their respect from other countries. Even though the military has done all those bad things, it was all done in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. The world has changed and most of the people in the military have changed since then too. Which is why the government should increase the funding of the military. To increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our military while also contributing to the economy of Canada by buying resources and equipment from Canadian businesses.

The military is in desperate need of funding for more equipment.