Apparantly this post did not make it out the first time it was sent. But if you did receive it my apologies for the duplicate. ------------------------------------------------------------ > On MAY 24 Paul Phillips wrote: > > > A quick check of th World Fact Book shows that, of all the > > major industrial (G7 and OECD) countries, Canada has the lowest > > percent of military expenditure as % of GDP with one exception, > > Japan. (Canada, 1.6%: Japan 1.0 %). Perhaps this is not > > insignificant as I suggested in my post, but it is surely minimal > > and I would argue virtually a minimal level necessary for > > air-sea rescue, coastal and fishery servailance, and contribution > > to peace keeping. > > This was in response to my May 22 rejection of Paul's May 21 suggestion > that "In Canada today the military budget is miniscule..." Arguing that > this was another example of the false view of Canada as a near > semi-colony, I wrote that if my memory was correct, Canada was in > the "mid to upper range of advanced capitalist countries in military > expenditures/GDP". > > Well, I have to admit it, Paul's subject heading above is correct. > > The World Competitiveness Report I had cited places Canada, not in the > "mid to upper" range in ME/GDP, but in the mid to lower range. Using > NATO's definition of military expenditures, Canada's rate of 1.86% in 1993 > was still higher than that for NZ, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Ireland, > Japan, and Austria, and not too far behind, for example, Italy, Germany > and Sweden at, respectively, 2.05, 2.06 and 2.32%. (The US rate was > 4.66 and the Russian rate 27.05% (!!!). Looking at the list again and > given the countries Canada leads, I suppose it would be even more fair to > say it is in the lower end of advanced capitalist countries in terms of > ME/GDP. > > Turning the page in this book, I see that in terms of absolute military > expenditures (ME), in 1993 Canada ranked 9th in the world at US$ 10.27 > billion. It follows the US, China, Russia, France, Germany, UK, > Japan and Italy. I'd also agree it would be misleading to say this > puts Canada in a "mid to upper range"; it is dammed near part of the top > range! > > I don't know how the World Fact Book calculates the ME/GDP rate or > what year Paul cited, but the UN 1996 Human Development Report ranks > Canada in a similar fashion as above for 1994. The SIPRI Yearbook 1996 > also lists Canada ahead of most NATO countries in the number of soldiers > and spending on equiptment (behind the US, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK > (and presumably also France, which is not listed). It also notes Canada > was 12th in the world in major conventional arms exports and 15th in > imports between 1991 and 1995. > > So, yes, Paul's heading was correct. It was also rather one-sided. > > Bill Burgess > >
