Canadian Federal Budget To Put More Into Security Agencies To Counter Growing Threat Of Terrorism

Canada is expected to table its federal budget on Tuesday, with the focus possibly more of putting into security agencies in light of the growing global threat of terrorism.

Without saying how much, Defence Minister Jason Kenney said on Sunday the military is out to receive additional funding in order to properly and adequately deal with "jihadi terrorism around the world.” He said the Canadian Forces need adequate resources in the future. “Our government will deliver that so stay tuned for the budget," Kenney told CTV’s Question Period.

Apart from the military, Ottawa Citizen states Finance Minister Joe Oliver’s first fiscal blueprint, apart from the usual measures needed to boost economic growth, calls for new funds for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). The funding, the paper said, “will exceed $100 million,” presumed to cover the controversial anti-terror Bill C-51 introduced by the Conservative government early in 2015.

“These funds will provide additional investigative resources to our law enforcement and national security agencies to allow them to keep pace with the evolving threat of terrorism and terrorist financing, in order to continue to protect Canadians,” Ottawa Citizen says, citing an unnamed source.

Canada’s defence spending had peaked in 2011, after the present leadership took power in 2006. Its allocation for the said branch of government has since declined considerably. But owing to the circumstances surrounding the ISIS Daesh and Russian invasion into the Arctic, Canada feels it needs to further empower its military and security agencies with additional funding.

Citing Jean-Denis Fréchette, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, the Globe and Mail reports “the capabilities of the military will be reduced” if government fails to appropriate necessary funding. The government’s “foremost responsibility,” Ottawa Citizen quotes an unidentified source, is that is must ensure the safety and security of Canadians and defend the country’s sovereignty.

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