麻豆社

The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, has given his generals and admirals an unusual command: spend money. Lots of it. Quickly. For years, it was the other way around. Canada wore the uniform of a serious Nato ally 鈥� while undershooting the alliance鈥檚 2% of GDP defence spending target. Now, spurred by what Carney has called a 鈥渞upture鈥� in geopolitics, Ottawa is adding billions to hit Nato鈥檚 target by 31 March 2026 鈥� the end of the fiscal year.

Military leaders are scrambling to reverse a culture of frugality and long planning cycles. Parliament鈥檚 budget watchdog has said the Department of National Defence sometimes struggles to spend the funds it already has. The Conservative defence critic has said the new billions are money 鈥渢he department won鈥檛 be able to shovel out the door.鈥�

Neal Razzell follows the money to see what changes - and what doesn鈥檛 - when a military tries to expand at speed. In Quebec, at Canada鈥檚 main basic training base, he watches the rebuild begin - as recruits and instructors grapple with the limits of time, staff and space. In British Columbia, at the Navy鈥檚 Pacific headquarters, he asks the commander of Maritime Forces Pacific what 鈥渟pend fast鈥� can actually fix in a fleet Carney says is less than half operational.

Producer: Neal Razzell
Sound engineer: Neil Churchill
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
Editor: Penny Murphy

(Image: Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney. Credit: Office of the Prime Minister)