The Conservative Party of Stephen Harper has released Canada's 2015 election year federal budget, and the defense minister, Jason Kenney, is promoting the proposed CAD $11.8 billion (USD $9.6 billion) increase in military spending over the next decade: "That was the real problem with the decade of darkness: a total, total black hole in terms of procurement," Kenney told host Evan Solomon of CBC News Network's Power & Politics, using the phrase coined by former chief of the defence staff Rick Hillier in reference to the era of slashed military spending under the Liberals. But as CBC News notes, "the money is backloaded and won't even come into play until 2017." It is fair to classify the 2006-2015 period under the Harper government as another "decade of darkness" for the Canadian military. In constant dollar terms, 2014 defense spending in Canada (USD $18.4 billion) was lower than when the Conservatives came to office in...(Read Full Post)