OTTAWA -- Transport Minister Marc Garneau says Canadians can expect "significant expenditures" to come out of the government's defence policy review.
The long-awaited policy review, which was expected last December, will be unveiled before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau heads to the NATO summit in Brussels at the end of the month, Garneau said in an interview with Evan Solomon, host of CTV's Question Period.
"If we are to properly equip our men and women, of whom we ask a great deal, then we're going to have to make significant expenditures," he said.
"We have chronically under-funded the military. We've been doing it in successive governments. This is not a partisan issue," Garneau added.
The Liberals have been clear, Garneau said, that 65 fighter jets the previous Conservative government wanted to buy won't be enough to support Canada's commitments to NORAD and NATO. Garneau also said the previous government didn't put aside enough money for new ships or helicopters.
"No money had been identified for that. There are a number of significant expenditures that we are going to have to make," he said.
"I think Canadians recognize that when we call upon our military to go into troubled spots, into war areas, we need to properly [equip them] and we need to take care of them afterwards. And that recognition is going to be in the defence policy review as it never has before."
