Why Canadian defence growth need not start with healthcare cuts

Would Canada have to forgo healthcare to afford the ships and submarines being discussed?

That is not the argument here; the available policy space is the roughly 0.7-percent-of-GDP gap between current spending and the NATO target.

The proposal does not begin with a choice between a capable fleet and healthcare. Canada was spending about 1.3 percent of GDP on defence while accepting a NATO expectation of two percent. The difference supplies the budget space used to sketch a stronger submarine force. Political choices would still be required, but the estimate does not presume the abolition of another public service.