Prime Minister Mark Carney with troops of the 4th Canadian Division at Fort York Armoury, on June 9. Canada has launched the largest increase in military spending in more than 70 years.Arlyn McAdorey/Reuters
Canadians would rather have an increase to the national debt than personal income tax hikes to pay for more ambitious military commitments made by the federal government, new polling says.
The Nanos Research survey conducted for The Globe and Mail found nearly half of Canadians surveyed support the debt option, with 49 per cent either supporting or somewhat supporting it.
The split is 15 per cent supporting the approach and 34 per cent somewhat supporting it.
On the other hand, 46 per cent say they would somewhat oppose or oppose increasing the national debt to pay for an increase in military capacity – 22 per cent for “somewhat oppose” and 24 per cent for “oppose.”
Canada has launched the largest increase in military spending in more than 70 years.
Under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump and facing challenges from Russia and other countries, Prime Minister Mark Carney and his government say they will spend up to $150-billion on defence annually within a decade.
That’s up from about $63-billion in defence spending projected in this fiscal year.
The plan would increase defence spending from a current commitment of 2 per cent of annual economic output to 5 per cent.
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The Nanos research looked at how respondents feel about the debt-financing action by age.
Respondents aged 55 and over were more likely to support debt financing for defence, with 61 per cent backing the idea. Meanwhile, 46 per cent of those aged 35 to 54 supported the idea. Thirty-six per cent of those aged 18 to 34 supported it.
Meanwhile, the same research found three in five Canadians oppose or somewhat oppose increasing personal income taxes to finance an increase in Canadian military capacity.
The split is 38 per cent opposing and 22 per cent somewhat opposing the idea.
Respondents over 55 are more likely to support the increase in personal income taxes to finance defence, with 49 per cent of respondents in that cohort supporting the idea. Thirty per cent of respondents aged 35 to 54 support the idea and 24 per cent of respondents aged 18 to 34 support it.
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Pollster Nik Nanos said the government as well as the official opposition Conservatives need to be cautious in the stands they take on handling the issue of financing expanded military programs.
“A clear message on how increased military spending will be funded is critical to avoid the pitfalls of Canadians connecting things like higher taxes with higher defence costs,” Mr. Nanos said in a statement.
“Research shows that there is support for increased defence spending – the narrative about how it will be paid needs to be clear to manage expected future fiscal pressures on the federal government. The Carney government acceleration of spending exacerbates this risk.”
The federal budget this fall is expected to provide some clarity on how the government will deal with the military financing issue.
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The Nanos research is based on a telephone and online survey of 1,047 respondents, aged 18 and over, conducted between July 2 and 6.
The margin of error for the survey is plus-or-minus three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Respondents were asked two questions.
They were asked, “Would you support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose or oppose the following: Increasing personal income taxes if the funds were used to increase Canada’s military capacity?”
Alternatively, they were asked about the option of increasing the national debt if the funds were used to increase Canada’s military capacity.