Strong, Secure, engaged:
20 APRIL/MAY 2019 www.vanguardcanada.com
BY VALARIE FINDLAY
deFenCe PoLiCY
THe CYBeR exTRACT
L
ately, hardly a day goes by with-
out media headlines stringing
out the latest on the SNC La-
valin scandal with proliferous
filler, like the Norman affair and
China (anything to do with China). With
the words 'bribe,' 'breach' and 'bureau-
crats behaving badly' hanging over Can-
ada's woes, headlines were made around
the world. Canada, no longer the apolo-
getic neophyte, had slid into the mud
alongside thuggish hogs of other nations;
indeed, the worm had turned.
Likely, the last thing on anyone's mind
was Canada's defence policy and military
capabilities in cyber. Except here. With this
edition of Vanguard focusing on Strong,
Secure and Engaged: Canada's Defence
Policy, released in June 2017, I pulled it
out again to re-examine its cyber domain
offerings and began to parse out the old
from the new for this column.
Solid and diversified, it was a reminder
of how far we have come as a nation in
technology, innovation and substantial ad-
vancements in our military. Although thin
on strategic detail and funding, Strong,
Secure, Engaged replaced my earlier am-
bivalence with cautious optimism, at least
for this sector.
Supporting Strong, Secure, Engaged is
the Government of Canada's commitment
to grow annual defence spending from
$18.9 billion in 2016/2017 to $32.7 bil-
lion in 2026/2027 on a cash basis ($17.1
billion to $24.6 billion on an accrual basis)
over a twenty year horizon. Representing
only 1.4 per cent of the GDP (up from
1.2 per cent, although critics claim it was
closer to 1.0 per cent) that puts us on par
with Guyana and Finland. Worth noting,
our Five Eyes (FVEY) partners, except the
